Brighton's two universities have been given extra cash to tackle staff pay and increase student numbers.

The universities of Brighton and Sussex, which have been hit by recent staff protests over wages and conditions, are among the English universities to share £4.75 billion of funding for teaching and research.

The University of Brighton will see a 4.9 per cent increase in its income from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and tuition fees in real terms.

It was announced the university will receive a total resource, not including government capital funding, of £37,962,200.

The University of Sussex has been allocated £39,527,630, a 2.5 per cent real terms increase in their HEFCE grant and tuition fee income.

It is the first time for some years that all the English universities have received a real terms increase in cash.

The money will be used to fund extra full-time and part-time places for students as part of the drive to meet the Government's target that half of all young people under 30 should have the opportunity to go into higher education by 2010.