TUITION fees at the University of Chester could spiral to nearly £7,000 a year, according to union bosses.

The University and College Union said that in order for the university to maintain current levels of income tuition fees would have to more than double That means students hoping to go to the university’s Padgate campus from September 2012 could end up paying £6,713 a year.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said that the huge hike in the cost of tuition could force the university to close.

“Government claims that universities will only charge more than £6,000 a year in exceptional circumstances are completely bogus,” she said.

“By removing the entire teaching grant and making students foot the bill we will see whole subject areas starved of public funds and potentially forced to close.”

However, a spokesman for the University of Chester said that it is ‘too early’ to decide what tuition fees will be increased to because the level of funding cuts will not be confirmed until March. Reports indicate the university may lose up to 87 per cent of its funding.

He said: “It would be premature to predict the impact of these changes, but it is important to emphasise that the university currently occupies a position which is relatively strong.”

Tuition fees currently stand at £3,290 but the coalition voted on Thursday to increase annual charges to a minimum of £6,000, while some universities can charge up to £9,000 a year if they justify why.

Warrington South MP David Mowat (pictured, left) voted in favour of the increase last week.

He said: “I voted in favour because the tuition fee proposal is better for the least well off students than the current system, and to arrest the decline in social mobility that we have seen in the last decade.”

However, Warrington North MP Helen Jones, who voted against the increase, said: “This decision has nothing to do with deficit reduction. The university has been left with no choice other than to raise the level of tuition fees. Doing so will put young people off going to university, particularly from poorer backgrounds.”