LONDON students pledged yesterday not to pay rent on their university halls after months of complaints over repairs and vermin were ignored by management.

Residents at the School of Oriental and African Studies’s Dinwiddy and Paul Robeson buildings will be witholding an estimated £100,000 in rent until their demands are met.

The halls, run by private housing provider Sanctuary Students, have been plagued by cockroach and rodent infestations and water outages — on one occasion students were left three days without hot water.

Speaking on behalf of the residents, Karmel Carey said: “We have tried to raise these issues for months, but Sanctuary Students have refused to take our concerns seriously.

“After multiple meetings with us, and many email exchanges, Sanctuary Students staff still claimed they had never heard of the residents’ council — and now refuse to recognise it.”

“We will not allow residents to live in unsafe, cockroach-ridden accommodation, intimidated into keeping silent.”

The council is also asking for £800 in compensation.