KEELE University's new chancellor has revealed he feels "deeply uncomfortable" about charging students £9,000-a-year for degrees and wants tuition fees scrapped altogether.

Jonathon Porritt spoke out yesterday as he was officially installed as the new ceremonial head of the university.

The well-known environmentalist and writer is only the fourth person to take up the role in Keele's history.

His candid views are set to make him a popular figure among the 10,000 students on campus. But it comes as Keele prepares to charge the maximum £9,000-a-year for all its undergraduate courses from September this year.

Mr Porritt told The Sentinel the decision to allow cash-strapped universities to treble their fees meant higher education was heading "in the wrong direction".

He added: "I worry for young people as they will leave our universities with such a burden of debt. I think the state should pay for higher education.

"But Keele doesn't have any choice because every university has to be part of that new system. There are a lot of people who are unhappy with that, but we will have to make it work."

Mr Porritt was educated at Oxford University in the late 1960s, an era when studying was free and radicalism was sweeping the nation. He said: "I wasn't a completely revolting student in those days, but I did have my fair share of revolting."

He believes today's generation of students face tougher challenges as the economy stutters and graduates struggle to find jobs. But the 61-year-old is passionate about his new role at Keele.

The university has been developing a national reputation for its work in researching alternative technologies and promoting environmental issues.

In years to come, the campus could even become a giant experiment in sustainable living, with plans to generate much of its own power. Smaller scale initiatives include fitting solar panels to university buildings.

But the three big areas being considered are extracting methane from coal seams under the campus, tapping into geothermal energy, and using wind power.

Mr Porritt has been involved in helping to shape this wider vision for Keele through the charity he founded, the Forum for the Future.

He said: "The real task is to make sustainable development relevant to the public. I'm interested in the everyday links.

"The state of the environment, for instance, is linked to the health of the population. With transport, there are health benefits from making it better for people to walk or cycle to their home or work. Inefficient homes also affect people's health."

He would like to see sustainability issues weaved into every degree subject so it becomes part of the student experience.

As chancellor, he will be responsible for promoting the university to the wider world and presiding over major ceremonies, such as the conferring of degrees on students.

Speaking at yesterday's installation ceremony, he said: "This is quite a daunting experience and quite a weighty one too. This is an extraordinary day for me."

Nick Foskett, who as vice-chancellor is the man in charge of running the university, also described it as a "proud and important moment" for Keele.

He said: "We believe that Jonathon's appointment recognises and underlines our core values and ambitions."