Colleges in Sussex have been accused of becoming breeding grounds for extremism.

A leaked report by an independent think-tank said the University of Sussex, based in Brighton, is one of the three worst campuses in Britain for anti-Semitism.

It also said the far-right British National Party had tried to infiltrate Sussex Downs College which has campuses in Lewes, Eastbourne and Newhaven.

The report came out of research into extremist activity on British university campuses, including any links to terrorism.

It was commissioned by the right-wing Social Affairs Unit.

The research was carried out by two academic experts in security from Brunel University.

It warned officials to crack down on extreme groups to stop colleges becoming breeding grounds for future terrorists and zealots. As well as the threat of militant Muslims recruiting students for jihad, or holy war, the report raised concerns about other extreme groups.

It said: "Sussex was accused by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) as being one of the three worst places for a Jewish student to attend university due to anti-Semitism on campus."

A Jewish final year student at Sussex, who did not want to be named, said anti-Semitism was rife and that although there were many Jews on campus they preferred not to reveal their religion. She said: "There is a hostile atmosphere. It's a very academic anti-Semitism. It's not yobbish like the BNP.

"People claim to take a sympathetic view of Palestine but instead of being pro-Palestine they are just anti-Israel."

She said that during her first few weeks at Sussex, a student shouted out that the university should get rid of all the Jews and ban the Jewish Society during a debate on Israel. She said: "I was really frightened by it. People genuinely have to defend their culture and their very existence every day. It's upsetting."

Mitch Simmons, the UJS campaigns director, said a controversial article in the student paper The Badger supporting Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel and a local branch of a national extreme socialist group in support of Palestine called Che Leila made Jews feel uneasy.

He said pro-Palestinians had bragged on their web site about meeting members of Islamic jihad on a trip to Israel.

He said confidence was slowly returning to the campus but the sense of unease had been present for more than two years.

A spokeswoman for the university said: "We have a strong history of political engagement and involvement across all issues but there is no place for bigotry or extremism on our campus.

"Neither the university or the students' union recognise the picture of Sussex suggested by the one sentence on Sussex in a 100-page report.

"The allegations of anti-Semitism alluded to were in fact part of an exchange of views in early 2004 within the columns of the student newspaper."

She said: "Our code of practice on freedom of speech makes clear that incitement to violence or racial hatred is contrary to university policy and subject to disciplinary action."

The report, entitled When Students Turn to Terror: Terrorist and Extremist Activity on British Campuses, is due to be published next week.

Sussex Downs college said: "The college takes the safety of all its staff and students very seriously.

"Should a situation arise where there are potential safety issues the College will undertake a full investigation and risk assessment to ensure that our Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity policies are not breached, and if so appropriate and swift action is taken."