STUDENTS have been promised subsidised town centre parking until the end of the academic year in a policy U-turn by Wycombe District Council.

The authority had planned to call a halt to the discounted scheme which allows university students to park in the Dovecote multi-storey at a reduced rate.

But undergraduates from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College complained to the Free Press claiming price hikes could force them to skip lectures and work from home.

Letha Beadnell, a 61-year-old fine arts student who drives from Rickmansworth every day, said a lack of affordable parking could be a key factor in whether students decide to study at the university.

She said: "The council has now offered an extension to the subsidised parking scheme for the remainder of this school year at the same rate as before (£9.63 per week).

"I understand, however, that there will definitely not be a subsidised parking scheme for the next academic year.

"So the problem still exists it has only been delayed."

The district council blames temporary car park closures during the town centre redevelopment as the reason for shelving the scheme.

Students will be forced to shell out upwards of £5 a day when the subsidy comes to an end.

In previous terms students had been issued with a parking pass at a reduced rate commensurate with an individual's financial standing.

But, despite the U-turn, BCUC students will be back to square one in September when discounted parking will be withdrawn permanently.

From September 2006 BCUC undergraduates will have to pay up to £3,000 a year tuition fees on top of accommodation and living costs yet another reason for the current scheme to stand according to student union president Matthew Hurst.

He said: "We will try and negotiate something over the summer.

"Hopefully we'll come up with some kind of agreement."

The district council currently boasts some 5,000 pay and display spaces in nine town centre car parks.

A spokesman said: "At the beginning of September we will be losing all surface car parks in the town centre and there will be the need to optimise all existing spare capacity.

"Spaces will be lost in Bridge Street, Temple Street and Newland Island car parks, with reduced spaces in Newland multi-storey."

The spokesman added a park-and-ride scheme will begin at Cressex Island in September allowing people to park for £2 to £2.50 a day.