A UNIVERSITY is spending £80,000 to repair its vice-chancellor's new home.

Salford University's new boss, Martin Hall, ordered officials to sell his grace and favour house in Bowdon, Cheshire, so that he could live in the city.

He moved into a specially-bought £640,000 home in Claremont, Salford.

But it has now emerged the university has allocated £80,000 for repairs to the five-bedroomed house.

Officials say the money was needed to fix a catalogue of defects including faulty wiring, a leaky roof and a broken boiler.

A spokesman said: "Professor Hall feels it is important that the vice-chancellor lives in the city which he represents and this led to the purchase of the residence as an investment for the university.

"The university set aside £80,000 to cover essential repairs to the new residence. This included repairs to the roof, chimney stack and lead flashings, replacement of defective and rotten sash windows, re-wiring, renewing the damp proof course in the basement, replacement of the h eating system and decoration."

The official home was also used to host student and official functions, he added.

Details of the makeover were inadvertently included in a presentation to staff and students on the university's future financial plans.

Staff praised Mr Hall’s move out of the £1m Cheshire house, but some have now baulked at the huge repair bill to his new home.

A member of the University and Colleges Union said: "We've just undergone redundancies to save money for the future. It is puzzling that they couldn't have found a house that didn't need so many repairs."