THERE should be pause for reflection about the expansion plans of the University of Worcester.

Your article was understandably upbeat and with gushing enthusiasm and smiling faces as though is only honey for tea. Yet by 2012 there will be perhaps an extra 3000 students and while this brings economic benefits it also may fuel a pre-existing accommodation crisis in Worcester.

Many of these new students will be full time and from other parts of the UK, and from overseas. The city suffers from a shortage of affordable rented housing for single people.

The city council is trying to help hundreds of people with housing needs and other city agencies such as Worcester Housing and Benefits Advice Centre only succeed in finding accommodation for a minority of their single users (about 30 per cent). The influx will increase demand and may even inflate prices due to a shortage of supply.

The university is building some accommodation as part of the expansion, but it will house a minority of the new numbers. There are of course other implications, such as providing NHS services from already very stretched GP and dentists resources in the city.

It is not to say these issues are insurmountable but they should be considered and effective planning implemented.

ANDREW BROWN, Worcester.