Clegg focus of protest on fees increase

A march is being planned from Sheffield University to the Liberal Democrat leader's constituency office while in Leeds students plan to protest outside banks in the city centre to highlight their role in the nation's deficit soaring.

Protesters were also set to continue their occupation of a Leeds University lecture hall for a seventh night yesterday.

Students intend to march from the Parkinsons Steps to Leeds city centre before returning to the university for a rally today. Osama Zumam, a Leeds Metropolitan University student who has been part of the occupation of the Michael Sadler building, said: "We have not identified individual banks because as far as we are concerned they are all as bad as each other."

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said: "We are aware of the protests planned for Leeds City centre and we will react accordingly if there is any disorder."

Mr Clegg has written to the National Union of Students warning that the protests against proposed increases in tuition fees risk scaring young people from poor backgrounds off going to university because they wrongly think they have to pay large sums of money to get into higher education.