A 20-year-old woman's dream of becoming a nurse has been shattered because she must give up her promised student digs to a European medic.

Rachel Simcock, of Cononley, was due to start a three-year mental health nurse course at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, on September 23.

But she has just been told she cannot occupy the £22 a week room she was promised by Manchester University.

It is to be let to a qualified nurse from Europe that the South Manchester NHS Trust has recruited to help fill a chronic shortage on the hospital wards.

Rachel, who has already given her notice to her bosses at Home Loan Management, Skipton, said she could no longer afford to take up the course, which came with a £5,000 a year bursary.

She said: "I had been accepted to have a room over the road from the hospital and everything seemed fine. Then I got this letter which said the room was needed for foreign nurses. I felt really let down.

"I looked elsewhere and the cheapest I could find was £60 a week and I would have had to share with someone else and the bathroom would have been used by 12 people.

"If I wanted my own room with a bathroom that was £90 a week."

Student flats were £40 a week but were only available for the academic year. Rachel's course ran throughout the year.

"All my plans are in tatters. I can't even take up a similar course in Leeds or Bradford because I had to forfeit them when I accepted Manchester."

The letter from the nursing faculty said: "We have been informed by South Manches-ter that they will not be able to provide accommodation for student nurses this September, due to the severe pressure they are experiencing in resourcing wards with qualified staff and the recruitment of staff from Europe to meet demand."

Rachel added: "I think the whole thing is a joke. Employing foreign nurses is just a short-term solution."

She said her only option now was to turn the Manchester offer down and re-apply to start in Leeds next April or September. The trust's decision also affects 15 other trainee nurses.

Rachel's father, David, 44, a teacher, said he was very disappointed for his daughter.

"She has always wanted to be a nurse. It was her dream and now it is in tatters."

Ruth Holt, chief nurse at Wythenshawe Hospital, said the limited residential accommodation owned by the trust was used by people who had on-call commitments and needed to be on site.

"We endeavour to find accommodation for student nurses through our arrangements with a local housing association, however, this is not always possible."