A student accommodation block in Penryn which has remained empty for three years was the target of a suspected arson attack on Monday [September 1], leading MP Jayne Kirkham to demand action.

The Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth says “definitive action” needs to be taken to make the 528-bed purple Studytel building safe and inhabitable – or it needs to come down.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of a fire next to the abandoned block of student flats on Kernick Industrial Estate at 7.30pm. The fire service said an area of vegetation and plastic was well alight when it arrived on site. Firefighters tackled the blaze and brought it under control before extinguishing it.

Ms Kirkham has now spoken of her frustration concerning the empty building, which is increasingly becoming a danger zone and constant irritant to neighbouring residents and businesses. She told us the fire “is extremely worrying and nearby residents are rightly concerned … this half-built block has become a safety hazard.

“Penryn Town Council and local residents have been tirelessly campaigning for action but very little has happened for three years. We need definitive action – to make the site safe, take it down or finish the build. I will be meeting with the building’s owner’s representative again and working with the councils to get the action local residents need and deserve.”

The huge purple building was abandoned three years ago without anyone ever living in its 528 units. Sondica, the company behind Studytel, says work was halted on the £40m project in March 2022 due to the contractor going bust, and that the entire frame will have to be replaced due to new changes in building regulations.

The building has fallen into a shocking state of disrepair. A public football field at the rear of the building that was rented as a depot was meant to be returned to community use, but hasn’t.

Following Monday’s fire, neighbouring resident James Clewett told us the building was attracting “a generally higher level of delinquency, especially this summer holiday”, adding: “My neighbours and I are desperate. Living next door to an increasingly derelict mess, that is attracting the worst kind of human behaviour, is becoming a genuine burden that we’re all carrying. I want to scream that from the rooftops – please give us our community back!”

Earlier this year, residents of the Trevance estate, which looks on to the back of what has been dubbed locally as the ‘Kernick Carbuncle’, told us they’d had enough after high winds brought insulation and purple pieces of cladding flying into their gardens. One neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said: “Everybody here thinks it’s the biggest eyesore going. We all believe it should come down as it’s basically falling apart. We’re all fed up to the back teeth with it.”

We have contacted Sondica for a response to the growing concerns in the area, but have yet to receive a reply.