A medical school has made its entry requirements for trainee doctors tougher because too many people want to study in Sussex.

Brighton and Sussex Medical School was taken by surprise when 60 per cent of students offered a place in 2004 accepted instead of the expected 40 per cent.

The school has since increased its entry requirements from three A-levels at ABB to AAB and says it is confident it will not run into similar problems again.

The figures were revealed in a report published in the British Medical Association (BMA) Journal on Friday.

In October's intake there were 33 extra students starting the 128-place course at Brighton.

School admissions tutor and associate dean John Kay said it was able to cope with the extra demand but it was not something he wanted to repeat.

He said: "It was good news they liked us so much but it did add to pressures.

"The fact that Brighton itself is seen as a good place to live and study was another factor in attracting students here."

The medical school has just learned it can take up to ten international students a year on top of the 128 places it already has but it will be given the extra money for this.

Mr Kay said: "Compared with some medical schools, which can have 300 students in each class, we are quite small.

"This means students are broken into smaller groups and have more individual attention and this is something we want to maintain."

The school was opened by Health Secretary John Reid in 2003 and is run jointly by the universities of Brighton and Sussex.

Friday's BMA Journal report says there are more than 500 extra students studying at medical schools across England and warns it could harm education because resources would be limited and clinical placements at hospitals in short supply.

Student doctors are calling for an urgent reassessment of medical school numbers by an independent body.

As a result of rising intakes, students have reported problems including overcrowding in lecture theatres, an increase in numbers in so-called small group teaching, lack of contact with personal tutors and even canteens running out of food.