A TRAINEE doctor told last night how crippling debts had forced her into busking to make ends meet.

Laura Humphries has no other choice than to play her saxophone for a few coppers because her university debt has mounted to £12,000 - and is still rising.

Officials said last night that Laura's situation highlighted the hardships young people have to endure before they join the NHS.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is worried about the plight of medical students and has called on the Government to provide NHS bursaries for all students, not just a minority.

Breaking off from the strains of Moon River on the streets of Darlington, Laura said: "It is a real struggle. Even though I get a student loan of £1,100 a term, it is nowhere near enough."

The 22-year-old from Hartlepool admitted she was so broke she could not even afford a decent meal.

This is not the first time during her studies that she has called on her saxophone-playing skills.

"I busked here a couple of years ago and thought I'd try it again," said Laura, who is at Imperial College, London.

Last week, the BMA revealed a result of a survey which showed that the average medical student now owed £20,172.

The BMA said the debt was partly due to the length of medical courses and the fact that students had less chance to work part-time.

Back in Darlington, coins were flying into her collection box, but Laura knows she would have to play the sax for a long time to get herself out of debt.

"I currently owe about £12,000, but I expect that it will probably increase before I finish my course," she said.

Life was tough enough at Cambridge University during her first three years, but now she is working on attachment as a trainee doctor in London, the money has to go even further.

She said: "During clinical school, the terms are a lot longer, they can be up to 13 weeks, but you only get the same amount."

Laura said it was unfair on her parents to have to support their three daughters through university with no help from the State.

Laura, who attended Teesside High School, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton: said: "I have two sisters who have also gone through university and they have had to fund us. My older sister is now a doctor in Sheffield and my younger sister is studying psychology."

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell, speaking to the BBC recently, said there was a good financial package in place to support medical students and research showed those who qualified significantly increased their earning potential.

Once Christmas is over, Laura will resume her studies on attachment to the vascular surgery unit at Northwick Park hospital, London.

Barrie Wilson, 71, a retired Navy captain from Darlington, said: "If she handles surgical instruments the way she handles the sax, she can operate on me any time."

Mr Wilson said he thought it was awful that she had to busk to help her through her studies.

"If they can fund stupid things with the Lottery, they can fund people who will go on to save lives," he said.

Last Monday's BMA annual medical student finance survey showed that students in the fifth year of medical school have an average debt of £20,172 and those in the final year of a six-year course owe £22,365 - 17 per cent more than last year.

About six in ten had an overdraft, one in five had a bank loan and 92 per cent had a student loan.

One student owed £55,000, more than 100 students owed more than £30,000 and one in ten had debts in excess of £25,000.

Andrew Pearson, of the BMA Medical Student Committee, said: "The average sixth year medical student now owes more than the basic annual salary of a newly-qualified doctor.

"This is particularly worrying when you consider that junior doctors' take-home pay is falling and that medical unemployment is increasingly common. There's a lot of anxiety among medical students at the moment, and with top-up fees on the horizon, their financial pressures are going to get worse."

The basic annual salary for a first year junior doctor is £20,295.