Almost 30 Oxford University students have been fined up to £65 for a sit-in protest against tuition fees.

Court-style hearings were held to discipline students for their part in the sit-in at the Divinity School area of the Bodleian Library in February.

Hundreds of students took part in the sit-in between February 7 and 11 - to protest against their colleagues being suspended for refusing to pay the £1,050 tuition fee.

But only 30 were charged with occupying part of the Bodleian Library, which is classed as a minor university offence and has a maximum penalty of £65.

One of the students fined £55 was Home Secretary Jack Straw's son William, 20.

Anyone who does not pay the fine within a week will be barred from the university for a year.

Student union president, Kirsty McNeill, was one of the students who were summoned.

She said: "I was fined £55, which I have paid.

"Some people have been fined £65 which is quite a hefty amount for a student budget.

"I think what it shows is that that the university feels that it really had to act strongly over this.

"It is a knee-jerk reaction.

"I think that they are running scared.

"I don't think it will deter people from doing an occupation again because students wanted to defend non payers," she said.