Nurses at staff-strapped Worthing Hospital have turned down shifts because of the crippling cost of car parking.

Staff pay up to £5 per day to park there and there is no discount for student nurses or voluntary staff.

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust needs 60 more nurses to reach proper staffing levels. A spokeswoman said the problem would shortly be solved by an influx of nurses from the Philippines.

But Ann Cooper of public service union Unison said the recruitment problem was aggravated by the parking fees.

She said: "The shifts make a car a necessity because it is impossible to use public transport at these unsociable hours.

"But there is no way student nurses can afford to pay £5 a day. Even for staff with a permit to park, the charges are still expensive.

"Many nurses park in the street instead, but that can be dangerous. Everyone knows what time they are leaving. If they are walking down dark streets late at night, it makes them sitting ducks.

"I would say parking is the major part of the recruitment problem at this hospital."

Student nurse Ruth Allen said her mother, a pensioner, contributed towards her parking costs. Without the contribution, she says she would struggle to carry on as a nurse.

Miss Allen, from Rustington, said: "I'm now looking at staff nursing positions and I am looking at other trusts for jobs - because of the parking.

"I know other hospitals charge too, but the costs here seem so much higher.

"I am 41, and I have to ask my mother to help me pay. It's demoralising. She has worked hard all her life and now she has to subsidise me."

Trevor Richards of the patients' watchdog Worthing Community Health Council, said parking was a big issue at the hospital.

He said: "For some months we have been negotiating with the hospital to review car parking arrangements.

"We are interested in patient care, and if the parking situation means nurses aren't available, that affects patient care."

A hospital spokeswoman said there was no hospital in Sussex that did not charge for parking.

She said: "Although the trust does have a recruitment problem it is certainly no worse than any other hospital.

"In fact our current nurse vacancy level is approximately 60 out of 1,400, which is far less than many other hospitals.

"The trust had decided the day-to-day operation of the car park should be self-financing. It would be wrong to use money set aside for patient care to subsidise car parking.

"Anyone who works at the hospital can apply for a car parking permit which works out at less than 50p a day. This includes agency and student nurses."