STUDENTS from the region will join young people from across the country to protest over plans for top-up fees.

Thousands of students from the North-East and North Yorkshire will gather at Millennium Square, in Leeds, on March 25, to convey the message: "We should not have to pay for our brains."

The rally, which will include speakers, dancers and student bands, follows an earlier demonstration against the Government's proposals for increased university tuition fees by students in the South.

Inge Midl, 21, a first-year English and media student at Sunderland University, said: "I think it is important for students to stand up for their rights. We find it hard to fund university now - how could we possibly afford it if the top-up fees are introduced?"

The National Union of Students (NUS) is launching a series of campaigns allowing students to show how they feel about top-up fees.

They will begin with a mass national lobby of Parliament, followed by an outdoor advertising campaign with billboards in 13 cities throughout England and Wales.

The NUS has organised a week of action, from Saturday until next Friday, involving towns and cities across the country protesting against the fees.

NUS president Mandy Telford said: "We have always maintained that increasing tuition fees would be a disaster. We were amazed that the Government opted to bring back a nominal grant and abolish up-front fees, yet actually raise the cost of going to university."

Under Government plans, universities would be able to treble tuition fees from the current £1,100, depending on the course and the university.