BOLTON University's student union building is to close in September.

The union has been told it must vacate its current premises on Derby Street because the building falls short of national standards.

It comes just after the Institute officially changed its name to the University of Bolton, a move expected to attract more students. The closure would make the university the only one in Britain without a student union building.

Katherine Wilkes, president of the Student Union, said the university has to provide a prresident and an office for the union.

But it is not forced to provide a building, meaning the 8,000 students who attend the university will be left without union facilities.

The closure ruling follows last year's introduction of the Disabled Disabilities Act which has deemed the current union building on the Deane campus unsuitable.

It would cost £400,000 to bring it up to scratch or £700,000 to relocate.

Neither the National Union of Students of the university are legally obliged or in a position to pay, leaving Miss Wilkes, aged 22, from Rochdale, with the task of gathering sponsorship from businesses. She said: "We get a block grant from the university but it is not enough to pay for the building's rennovation. We've tried Lottery grants and the like but we don't meet the criteria.

"We are pleading with businesses to help us out."

The students' union building has two meeting rooms holding 50 people, five offices and a reception area on the ground floor. Upstairs there is a bar and catering facilities.

Last April, the Bolton Evening News reported plans to close down the union bar.

A spokesman for the university said it valued the students' union highly and saw it as part of its future.