ALMOST 3,000 Durham University staff will have to pay to park at work under proposals being considered by their bosses.

The university plans to introduce charging at its car parks to tackle a shortage of spaces, ease congestion and improve security.

If the plans get final approval, staff will pay an annual charge based on their salary from January.

In the first year, people on up to £11,999 will pay £26 while the charge in the £12,000 to £24,999 band will be £52 and people earning more than £25,000 will pay £78.

But, by August 2005, the university plans to increase the charges to £90, £150 and £270 respectively.

Workers are charged to park at University Hospital of North Durham and at Dur-ham Police's headquarters, and on-street parking charges apply in the city centre.

Staff opposed to the charges wrote to The Northern Echo anonymously for fear of reprisals for speaking publicly.

They said: "The main issue that staff have is the significant charges being proposed.

"After the third year of charging, for instance, staff within the highest band will be expected to pay £270.

"Yet this does not guarantee them a parking space, rather it gives them the right to hunt for a space.

"The strength of feeling among staff is considerable, with people stating that they will flatly refuse to pay the fees and instead will park on grass verges, side streets and residential estates to avoid paying."

They added that "there has been a cursory attempt to give the impression that members of staff have been consulted''.

The president of the university's branch of the Association of University Teachers, Dr Nigel Martin, said there was concern about the impact on lower paid back-up staff.

"We would want any income spent on the parking infrastructure and we would want to be assured the charge was not being used to ease the university's financial problems," he said.

Dr Martin added: "There is intense anger in some quarters."

The university says income will be used to "finance further improvements to the safety and security of the university's car parks".

It believes the charges could reduce the number of staff driving to work.

A spokeswoman said: "At the moment, we are going through a consultation pro-cess with all the staff where issues can be raised.

"They will then be looked at to see if the proposals need to be changed or revised prior to January."