University bosses are promising “swift” action to crush a student occupation after it was revealed they spent more than £600,000 to deal with a similar protest earlier in the year.

The University of Sussex shelled out £545,737 on private security and £81,812 on legal fees between February and the end of October – which saw mass campus protests and a 54-day sit-in demonstration.

Activists took over the same Bramber House Conference Centre on Tuesday evening in opposition to the outsourcing of university jobs.

Registrar John Duffy said: “We are determined to act swiftly to minimise the disruption to the campus and to prevent any repeat of the violence and destructive behaviour of the kind we saw last March.

“Those undertaking this disruptive activity are a very small number of students out of a community of 15,000 people.”

Students first took over the campus building in February.

University bosses allowed them to remain and only launched legal action after a demonstration on March 25 turned violent.

They are vowing a different approach this time and have already launched legal action with a date in court set for December 3.
 

A spokesman said the swift response is to not only prevent the expense of the earlier occupa- tion but also to stop disruption to campus.

A Freedom of Information request sent by protesters revealed the university spent £545,737 on private security between February and the end of October and £81,812 on legal costs.

A spokesman for the group described the cost as a “huge waste”.

He added: “Instead of spending this money they could have engaged with the students and staff who opposed them.

“It is a terrible use of university funds and proves they have got their priorities all wrong.”

The university says the £545,737 figure represents the total cost of external security which includes everything from library access and fire safety.

A spokesman added the total cost of in-house security teams over a year is £1million with the estimated extra spend to deal with the occupation coming in at around £80,000.

The spokesman added: “The University of Sussex has taken the first legal steps needed to bring to an end a disruptive occupation of its conference centre facilities on the third floor of Bramber House by a small group of students.”