A hospital trust plans to slash up to 60 of its car spaces, despite already struggling to provide parking for visitors and staff.

Brighton Health Care NHS Trust wants to build an education centre on the car park at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Eastern Road, Brighton.

The multi-million pound centre will form part of the planned medical school being created by the universities of Brighton and Sussex.

The Royal Sussex County Hospital, which is opposite the car park, will be the main teaching hospital for the school.

The centre will provide under-graduate and post-graduate teaching facilities, a library, clinical pharmacy and restaurant.

The proposals are expected to go before Brighton and Hove City Council in the New Year.

If permission is given, work on building the centre will start next year ready for the opening of the new medical school in 2003.

The move has angered nursing staff working at both hospitals who are already finding it difficult to find parking spaces.

It has been a problem for the trust for several years as staff and patient numbers have increased.

If staff manage to find a place on the streets, they have to pay, which many say they can't afford.

There are currently 804 spaces at the Royal Sussex and workers say losing between 50 and 60 places will make an already bad situation worse.

One nurse, who did not want to be named, said: "I can't afford to keep on paying to park close to the hospital.

"There is also the other problem that the time limit on the spaces is quite short and so there is always the worry at the back of my mind about going back to renew my ticket before I get a fine.

"The idea of the medical school is great and I can understand the need for the teaching centre but it is really going to cause even more problems for staff.

"We are constantly arguing for the issue to be dealt with but with more patients and more staff coming in all the time I can't see how it can be solved.

"There just doesn't seem to be the space no matter where you look."

The trust admits it has a huge problem with car parking and says it is working to tackle it.

A spokesman said: "We are looking at a number of issues including the possibility of a park-and-ride scheme and a minibus service to provide links for staff between the hospitals.

"We are also negotiating with the council to see if the car parking capacity at the Royal Sussex can be increased.

"This is a major concern and we are in the process of reviewing all car park sites to see what can be done."

The trust said it has looked at all of the possible locations for the education centre, which forms a vital part of the new school.