STAFF and students let their hair down and partied the afternoon away at University College Winchester in honour of a double celebration.

Hundreds of people attended a summer barbecue to mark the end of term and the success of their official name change.

Formerly King Alfred's College, the institution has been given the power to award its own degrees instead of relying on Southampton University accreditation.

Gill Longman, head of communication and marketing services, said: "The staff have an annual summer barbecue and the students always celebrate the end of term so we thought it would be nice to combine the two.

"It was a chance to celebrate all the work put in to achieve the name change, without that it couldn't have happened."

It followed a day of official celebrations a few days before when senior academics and students took part in a procession through the city, a church service and a champagne reception.

The college currently has about 5,500 full and part time students.

The first students to receive University College Winchester degrees will be postgraduates starting courses in September and graduating next summer.