:00:00. > :00:12.That's all from me, stay with us on BBC1,
:00:13. > :00:14.Good evening, welcome to BBC London News.
:00:15. > :00:20.The London School of Economics could be facing legal action
:00:21. > :00:28.A group of postgraduates claim a block of halls near Borough
:00:29. > :00:30.became overrun by mice, contaminated with mould and riddled
:00:31. > :00:34.They're now crowdfunding to raise money to pay for legal fees,
:00:35. > :00:36.in what they allege is a breach of its tenancy contract.
:00:37. > :00:52.Students at the London School of Economics took these photos
:00:53. > :00:55.of their University rooms at Sidney Webb House in Borough.
:00:56. > :00:57.They say they were so unhygienic, they made the students ill.
:00:58. > :00:59.Eye irritation, I also had intense headaches, coughing,
:01:00. > :01:02.and because of that I went to the doctor and it was there
:01:03. > :01:05.when the doctor said, you have to change your room immediately.
:01:06. > :01:08.They say at least 15 students have gone to hospital because of problems
:01:09. > :01:11.created by the conditions, but more were affected.
:01:12. > :01:14.I developed a series of skin infections, which I never had.
:01:15. > :01:19.It's reached the extent that I couldn't walk, basically.
:01:20. > :01:22.I had to go to the emergency section of St Thomas and Guy's Hospital
:01:23. > :01:28.Severe headaches, problems breathing, problems getting to sleep
:01:29. > :01:31.at night, waking up with a very sore throat, a dry throat,
:01:32. > :01:34.these are all symptoms related to mould exposure and mould spores
:01:35. > :01:38.Students were initially offered ?100 as a goodwill gesture,
:01:39. > :01:45.Now they're looking into taking legal action against the university.
:01:46. > :01:47.Accommodation is difficult obviously, but universities
:01:48. > :01:48.have a responsibility to their students,
:01:49. > :01:56.They must be able to live in reasonable conditions.
:01:57. > :01:59.As you can see, it's under refurbishment.
:02:00. > :02:01.The LSE did say they were aware of the complaints
:02:02. > :02:04.The University also says pest control was sent in.
:02:05. > :02:07.The students say this was not the way they planned
:02:08. > :02:15.To spend our time talking about mice and rodents and mould in our house
:02:16. > :02:19.is something we did not sacrifice so much to come here to do,
:02:20. > :02:21.They are now fund-raising for their campaign and are waiting
:02:22. > :02:29.It's destroying native species on riverbanks,
:02:30. > :02:35.Introduced in the 1800s as a garden plant, the Himalayan Balsam smothers
:02:36. > :02:40.Now conservationists have found a novel way of dealing with it
:02:41. > :02:46.and raising funds at the same time, as Yvonne Hall explains.
:02:47. > :02:53.The Himalayan Balsam, brought to the UK by Victorian explorers.
:02:54. > :02:55.Now it's spreading across river banks, gardens and allotments,
:02:56. > :03:01.It really overshadows everything and that has a massive knock-on
:03:02. > :03:09.The only way to get rid of it is pulling it up by hand.
:03:10. > :03:11.Here, next to the River Stort in Hertfordshire, conservationists
:03:12. > :03:14.and volunteers are trying to destroy hundreds of plants before
:03:15. > :03:23.And each plant can shoot 800 seeds, up to 22 feet away.
:03:24. > :03:26.Normally, once the Himalayan Balsam is cleared from the river banks,
:03:27. > :03:31.it's just thrown away, but a while ago conservationists
:03:32. > :03:33.were talking to the owners of a distillery.
:03:34. > :03:36.Between them they came up with a plan to do something much
:03:37. > :03:44.Then add them to alcohol, juniper, orange and lime
:03:45. > :03:46.and a few more ingredients, and turn the invasive
:03:47. > :04:00.The whole idea was for us to develop a gin that, rather than be
:04:01. > :04:03.using botanicals that were farmed or foraged, were to use something
:04:04. > :04:05.that was going to be thrown away, and the trust indicated
:04:06. > :04:15.that they had these clearing projects.
:04:16. > :04:17.Himalayan Balsam was one of the effectively rogue plants
:04:18. > :04:22.and we were looking for a way to use it in a gin and then have a gin
:04:23. > :04:24.that we could use to raise money for the trust.
:04:25. > :04:27.And purely in the interest of investigative journalism
:04:28. > :04:31.Definitely getting notes of invasive species there.
:04:32. > :04:50.Let's get you up to date on the weather.
:04:51. > :04:55.Any lingering cloud will clear, things could turn hazy with
:04:56. > :04:58.temperatures up to 26 Celsius. Not bad.
:04:59. > :05:02.Well that's it - Sonja Jessop will be here tomorrow morning from 6.20.