Universities in Sussex had millions of pounds cut from their budgets by the government last night.

Vice-Chancellors were ordered to impose a pay freeze and share services with other universities in order to achieve 6% "efficiency gains" from April worth around £5.5 million next year.

The cut was criticised by Universities UK, the vice chancellors' umbrella body, which said it amounted to an 8% drop in funding in real terms.

For the University of Brighton a 6% reduction would mean £2.9 million slashed from teaching grants, while Sussex would lose £1.9 million and Chichester £700,000.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England will make a statement on its priorities next month, but will not announce specific allocations for universities until March.