LECTURERS and students at Huddersfield University will join forces to stage a walkout tomorrow.

While members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) strike over pay, students will voice their disquiet at Government plans to introduce costly top-up fees.

The AUT has just rejected a 6.4% pay offer from the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association.

The National Union of Students and AUT say some institutions could come to a standstill. They claim more than 20 universities might shut down this week.

Jamie Briers, from the AUT regional office in Manchester, said:

"We will have local picket lines both tomorrow and Wednesday morning."

He said of the mood among AUT members: "They are generally very upset. Enough is enough."

He added of the pay row: "This has been an issue for some time."

The planned action at Huddersfield will be followed by a regional rally at Leeds University on Wednesday.

Under the pay offer, the AUT claims lecturers would lose £6,300 over eight years, researchers £17,300 over nine and senior support staff £47,000 over 21 years.

In a ballot, two-thirds of AUT members voted for nationwide action in protest of the offer, which is 2.6% above the rate of inflation.

The Government's controversial Higher Education Bill, which will give universities the power to charge fees of up to £3,000 from 2006, is currently going through Parliament.

NUS president Mandy Telford commented : "What we want to do with this week of action is to keep this issue at the top of the agenda and take it out to a wider audience and get members of the public more aware of the issues."