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More than 100 protesters have occupied part of the University of London in a demonstration against its "undemocratic and unaccountable" management.

The group say they are inspired by staff from universities across the UK who held a strike yesterday in protest at a one per cent pay increase offered to them.

They are currently in the university's Senate House building in Bloomsbury.

In a statement posted online, the protesters said: "We have taken over the main management corridor and the Vice Chancellor’s office in opposition to the way our university is being run and the way the higher education sector as a whole is controlled."

Rosie Holland, a 20-year-old maths student from Royal Holloway, one of the university's colleges, told the Standard there may be more than 150 people inside the building.

She said the protesters were angry at plans to abolish the University of London student union.

"We consider that to be very bad; it's a university, and it requires student representation," she said.

Demonstrators insist they will not leave the building until a series of 10 demands are met, including outsourced staff receiving the same sick and holiday pay as in-house workers.

They also said the maximum pay gap between the university's highest and lowest earners should be reduced to a 10:1 ratio.

A spokesman for the university said: "Our first concern is for the safety of students, staff and visitors at Senate House.

"We are liaising with the police to ensure that everybody is accounted for. We have witnessed some extremely dangerous behaviour on the part of the occupiers, including climbing onto the external balconies.

"We will do everything to ensure that no one is at risk, including the protesters.”