STUDENTS at St Martin's College are demanding part of their tuition fees back - and some are even threatening to quit the classroom over computer problems.

St Martin's is undergoing a complete upgrade of its IT network and systems - but that upgrade is taking longer than expected.

The Citizen understands that some students have been unable to access full IT services for 11 weeks.

Now they have formed a campaign group 'refundtuitionfees' to get their money back.

Insiders at the college say the technical problems are an embarrassment for St Martin's, just weeks after it announced its intention to move towards full university status.

Recently a £2m new teaching block was opened at the Lancaster campus - but work is still ongoing on the overhaul of the IT systems.

A spokesman for St Martin's says: "The upgrade is taking longer than initially expected due to the sheer scale of the operation. More than 1,800 PC's over three sites in Ambleside, Carlisle and Lancaster have had to be cleaned before they can be moved within the new firewall.

"The network and data storage area are now up and running though not as efficiently as required... The suppliers are working to bring the systems up to the standards agreed.

"I am aware that some students have made complaints and they are being looked into by the relevant bodies."

Professor Chris Carr, St Martin's College Principal adds: "Every effort has been made to minimise the impact on students and staff. Our IT staff have worked round the clock to tackle the problems which are unavoidable with any operation on this scale."