Sam North is already struggling with the mounting cost of his education at Salford University.

He has used his maximum student loan allowance of £7,800, gone to the overdraft limit on two student bank accounts and reached the maximum on credit cards.

He already faces a debt of almost £12,000 in his second year at the university but by the end he knows it could be nearer £18,000.

But if he was forced to pay out an extra £3,000 a year, the debt would be crippling according to his father who has gone back to work to help him out.

John North had retired as a social worker but the 59-year-old was forced to start again working as a freelance photographer to pay for his son's tuition and accommodation costs.

He says that the burden has been a strain on the whole family and they haven't had a holiday for years because all the spare cash is being invested in his son's education.

John said: "Paying for Sam's university has been a real struggle and if we had to pay any more I just don't think we could do it. £3,000 a year is a phenomenal amount to find for either us or Sam and it will put people off university. My wife is working full-time instead of part-time and I have gone back to work to pay for this. When you get these tuition bill it really hits home how expensive this is, but it's not like buying a TV I don't see any immediate return for my money."

Sam, aged 21, said: "My debt at the moment does not scare me because hopefully I will get a well-paid job to pay it off, but it is like taking out a mortgage for your education.

"I feel guilty that my parents have to work extra hours for me and I always have to go back and ask for more money. I just hope that having a degree is worth it at the end of the day.

"I would be thinking twice about going to university if the fees were raised."