STUDENT workers who were left struggling to pay their bills when their furlough bid was turned down by the University of the West of Scotland will now receive financial help equal to their monthly wage.

The staff, who work on zero-hour contracts in campus catering to support their studies, and their union, Unite, have secured support until at least July 31 after negotiations with the university.

The workers had taken government advice by asking for access to the furlough scheme but their request was rejected.

Two MPs, Mhairi Black and Neil Gray and Neil Bibby MSP sent letters to the university's principal asking him to support the students.

READ MORE: Students demand apology from University of the West of Scotland after furlough scheme rejection

In a statement, the university management said they were "pleased that following discussion and some administrative adjustments, its offer of hardship funding has now been accepted".

"The swift measures we have put in place to provide specific hardship support to this group, as per our original proposal, will ensure that there continues to be no financial disadvantage to them as a result of the university’s campuses closing."

One worker said after "five long weeks" the students were "delighted the university has reconsidered its position".

"We are saddened that we had to endure such a challenging journey in order to achieve this outcome," they added and thanked Dan Hutchison and sabbatical officers at the UWS students' union for their help.

They also thanked Bryan Simpson, from Unite, for his "invaluable" support and guidance. "We believe without his input, we would have a very different outcome. We will be forever grateful.

"Our case is just one of many faced by zero-hour contract employees during the recent months, highlighting the need to overhaul zero-hour contracts and provide all employees with equal rights and employment safeguards."

READ MORE: Students working in campus cafe struggling to pay bills after uni rejects furlough bid

Mr Simpson said: "Following positive negotiations between ourselves and senior management at UWS, we are pleased that an agreement has been reached that will ensure all casual workers in the catering team will receive financial support equivalent to 100 per cent of wages until at least July 31.

"We hope that this case acts as a wake-up call for the University on the precarity of the contracts being used for its casual workforce and that they look to offer minimum hour contracts to all staff in the new term, so that they know one week to the next what their baseline wages will be."