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Figures obtained by the BBC show that 21 London universities have gained £3,030,128.11 over the past three academic years from library fines alone, Isla Russell reports

Students studying in London are known to be financially unstable with the pressures of student loans, tuition fees, living costs and the high expensive of the capital’s rent prices. This new figure of over £3 million pound spent on library fines only adds extra stress to students.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has criticised the system saying that it is “not workable” for students or universities. Following this, the NUS vice president for welfare, Izzy Lenga said: “In many cases, institutions have prevented students with accommodation arrears or library fines from obtaining their degree or enrolling for their next year.”

The statistics show that Kings College University tops the list, as they makes £388,602.06. They say that there is a very heavy demand on their library resources and any money received through the fines is “reinvested” back into the university.

A King’s College spokeswoman says that issuing fines was a way to “ensure that books are returned”. In order “To help avoid charging fines, the due date is made clear, email reminders are issued before books are due back and there are various ways of renewing or returning books 24 hours a day,” she said.

The other four institution making up the top five universities who take the most money from library fines are Middlesex University, University of Greenwich, University College London and University of the Arts London.

The University of Westminster sits at the bottom of the table as they claim that they have not received a penny in library fines since the 1990’s, they choose to “block” students from borrowing books for a period of time which avoids the stressful fines.