Accent study ‘blew £34k’

A COLLEGE was blasted after it spent £34,000 of Lottery funding trying to identify the origins of an accent but found nothing.

For 10 months students investigated Portsmouth’s dialect and why it differs from surrounding parts of Hampshire and Sussex.

But Havant and South Downs College said theories were “not provable”.

Economist Len Shackleton said: “Those responsible for funding need to think carefully about how they justify schemes.”