REBEL MP Geraldine Smith stuck to her guns and voted against the Government over university top-up fees.

The Higher Education Bill, which could see students paying £3,000 in fees each year, was backed by 316 votes to 311 on Tuesday evening.

But the Morecambe and Lunesdale MP was one of 72 Labour MPs to vote against Tony Blair despite pressure to toe the party line.

The proposals will allow universities to charge up to £3,000 top-up tuition fees from 2006, repayable when students earn more than £15,000 a year.

Geraldine says it is a 'flawed and unfair' system, heavily biased towards high profile universities. But Lancaster's Labour MP Hilton Dawson supported the Government.

Students lobbied outside his office on Monday in a bid to change his mind.

University student union president Warren Nettleford said students were 'intensely disappointed', especially as Hilton has spoken against top-up fees in the past.

And Lancaster's prospective Tory candidate Ben Wallace also rounded on Hilton, saying: "Local people are not served by an MP who says one thing and does another."

But Hilton replies: "I stood on a concrete platform of opposition against top-up fees but the Government is making significant concessions."

Poorer students will get a £3,000 grant enabling them to go into higher education, he says, and goes on: "The NUS wants free education, which is an impossible demand. The Government is investing in higher education - I don't think it is unfair that graduates should contribute to the cost."

He adds that it was wrong to oppose the bill at the second reading, which was early in the negotiations.

"That would stop that process of influence in its tracks and send out a message to higher education that they won't get the funds they need."

The plans will now go through the Commons and Lords.

Lancaster University vice-chancellor Prof Paul Wellings has welcomed the Commons vote.

He says the university seeks the best students, irrespective of background and schooling.

The proposals will allow universities to charge fees, but students will not have to pay up-front while there will be support for poorer students.