A malady, ma'am!

MANAGERS at Manchester Metropolitan University this week dismissed as "mischievous" union claims that an Pounds 11 million humanities building, opened by the Queen yesterday, is unsafe and unhealthy.

They are angered by a Natfhe press release headlined "Queen to open unsafe building". The release said that the building was "unsafe, unhealthy and not up to basic standards of welfare provision".

It claimed that staff have suffered eyesight problems and an increased incidence of migraine and throat infections. It also raised concerns over the safety of stairwells and the lack of internal security locks on staff offices.

A university spokeswoman said: "All these major items have or are being addressed. The university rejects as unfounded and mischievous the suggestion by Natfhe that its new Pounds 11 million humanities and social science building is unsafe, unhealthy and not up to basic standards of welfare provision."

Natfhe negotiating secretary Bob Askew said: "It was only because the union raised the issues in this mischievous way that we managed to get a response from the university. And it was only as the Queen's visit got closer that we got any real action."

The Health and Safety Executive in Manchester has written to the university asking for a formal response on the issue.