The lowest paid staff will be exempt from parking fees

Students at the University of Sussex have been told if they want to park on site after the summer break it will cost them �150 a year.

The university has about 11,000 students and 2,000 staff but only 1,700 parking spaces.

Staff earning under �12,000 will not have to pay but some students say they are more hard up than even the lowest-paid staff and should be exempt too.

'I'm pretty outraged'

Most staff - all those earning more than �12,000 per annum - will have to pay �300 a year, but it is the fact that some staff will not be charged which has angered students.

Economics student Susan Prime drives to the university, which is based in the Brighton suburb of Falmer, from her home in Eastbourne, just over 20 miles away along the East Sussex coast.

She told the BBC: "I'm pretty outraged about it because I honestly think it's discrimination.

"Staff earning less than �12,000 don't have to pay, but students don't have an income anywhere near �12,000 so why do students have to pay?"

The university said all money raised in the scheme will go towards subsidising bus travel and improving cycling facilities to encourage staff and students not to use cars.