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Students angered by the fences placed around their residences have torn down the barriers in protest.
The fences were erected on Thursday on the Fallowfield campus of the University of Manchester as a “security measure” to “help prevent mixing of households.”
But the move, which was not explained to residents until after the fences were raised, caused unrest among students, who protested Thursday night and broke down the barriers.
Joe Hindley, a 19-year-old math freshman, said: “There is no benefit we can see from them being awake.
“They said something about increasing our security, but from what we can see it’s a complete waste of money.”
Fences were placed around the exterior of the campus, with security checks at the entrance and between the blocks.
While they did not prevent students from entering or leaving campus, they did impede passage between the different blocks of hallways.
In an email received by students shortly before 8:30 pm Thursday, the university’s president and vice chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, apologized for causing “concern and anguish” by erecting the fences.
“This was not our intention, in fact quite the opposite,” he said.
“The fence was intended as a response to a number of concerns received in recent weeks by staff and students about safety and security, particularly access by non-residents.
“It was never intended to prevent you or other residents of our hallways from entering or leaving the site.”
He added that the fences would be removed on Friday and that alternative measures would be introduced instead “including additional security patrols.”
