WORK is under way on a university's largest single development programme to relieve pressure on housing.

Contractors have moved on to the site of what will become Durham University's 16th college, on the Howlands Farm site, off South Road.

The first turf was cut yesterday on the £35.5m development programme, which will add about 800 student bedrooms in the city by 2006.

It is being developed largely on former farm land alongside the recently opened Ustinov College, the new name for the university's Graduate Society.

The self-catering college, which is yet to be given a name, is in part a response by the university to criticism over the shortage of accommodation, after the rapid rise in student numbers at Durham in recent years.

The university population has doubled from about 7,000 since 1990, including 2,000 at its Stockton campus.

Professor Tim Burt, dean of colleges and student support at Durham, who performed the turf-cutting ceremony, said the first 200 beds should be in use by September next year.

"We have had some criticism as there have been, probably, too many students living in the inner city area, and we would like to have more in college accommodation.

"It's a new college and an extension to two existing colleges, which is a sign of our commitment."

The project was initially to be funded through a private finance initiative but it is now being self-funded by the university.