Brighton's two universities are making a joint bid to open the town's first undergraduate medical college to train doctors.

More than 160 academic and support staff could be employed at the new school if the Department of Health approves the bid by the University of Brighton and Sussex University to open the Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

The new college would be based at the two universities' Falmer campuses with The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton becoming the school's teaching hospital for the clinical curriculum.

If the Department of Health approves the bid, which is being submitted on December 1, the college could be accepting its first 128 students for the five-year medical degrees, by 2003.

The universities expect to hear if they have been successful early next year.

If the plans are approved an estimated £28.5 million would be given by the Department of Health and the Higher Education Funding Council for England to meet capital expenditure which would be spent on developing teaching facilities at the Falmer campuses and the The Royal Sussex County Hospital site in Brighton.

The college, which has been modelled on Southampton University's medical school, would then need an estimated £21 million a year to run, which it is believed will be funded by the Government.

The proposal follows government pledges to increase the number of doctors under its ten year plan for the NHS.

The Government has invited universities to bid for money to develop medical schools at colleges which currently do not offer medical training to increase the number of students training to be doctors.

Professor Alasdair Smith, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, said: "The proposed new school will be firmly based on the established strengths of the two universities in educating and training health professionals and in science teaching and research. Both institutions are committed to innovation in teaching and provide an ideal base for a forward-looking approach to medical education."

Professor Michael Whiting, Dean of Faculty of Health at the University of Brighton and Chair of the Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, said: "I believe the partnership between the two universities and the NHS locally provides an outstanding opportunity for expanding undergraduate places and developing medical education. This will meet the needs of the national plans for the future of the NHS."