A shortage of student rooms has caused one university to resort to advertising for accommodation.

Oxford Brookes University can only house 70 per cent of its first-year students. To fill the gap, the university is looking for people with spare rooms to accommodate students in term time.

Nick Adams, president of Oxford Brookes Student Union, said students in Oxford paid about £30 more a week to live in private rented accommodation than students in other university towns.

Mr Adams said: "Unlike London, where students can take out bigger loans to account for the increased rent costs, students in Oxford get exactly the same amount as people at other universities outside the capital."

To meet student housing needs, Brookes has submitted a planning application to build accommodation for 592 students on the former government buildings site in Marston Road, Oxford.

The controversial project suffered a series of set-backs. Opposition to draft proposals presented at a public meeting in May forced Brookes to revise the plans at a cost of £500,000.

People living in New Marston voiced concern at the meeting that the three-storey development would encroach on views of Headington Hill from St Mary the Virgin Church in High Street, Oxford.

In the revised plans, the height of the development has been reduced by lowering the land level at the top of site by a metre.

The blocks would be further away from homes in John Garne Way, in New Marston, and the size and number of windows in the complex have been cut to prevent glare affecting people's homes.

The new proposals were set to come before Oxford City Council's planning committee last week, but have been deferred until September 5 to allow the council time to consider a letter from the New Marston South Residents' Association claiming the alterations do not go far enough to protect views of Headington Hill and that too many students would be housed on the site. Call 01865 484660 for details.