MORE than 30 jobs are to be axed at Fareham College just a year after the principal promised there would be no more redundancies.

Carl Groves made the assurances that no more staff would be laid off following 30 redundancies last summer.

But a year on between 30 and 35 full-time and part-time lecturers and technicians are being told they cannot be kept on.

The college is putting the cuts down to the success of its new vocational programme.

However, former lab technician Allan Acheson, who was made redundant a year ago, is furious at the latest move.

He said: "For a long time the college has been in decline. Staff redundancies have been going on for years but it comes to a point in time when enough is enough.

"education has suffered. Instead of education, education, education, it's been cuts, cuts, cuts. This has had a detrimental effect on numbers.

"If I had a son or daughter I wouldn't want them to go to Fareham College. The college, in my opinion, is in a bad state.

"A lot of pressure has been put on staff not to talk to the press but I don't work there anymore and they can't gag me."

Former electronics lecturer Dave Clarke, who was made redundant in 2001, added: "I sympathise with the management who have a difficult job to do but they are losing valuable people with an education. It seems to be a terrible waste."

Fareham College marketing manager Brian Howden has defended the move.

He said: "We have had huge success in our change of emphasis to more vocational studies in the last twelve months.

"Some lecturers didn't feel the change of emphasis suited them and decided to move on or take early retirement and they have not been replaced. There are just a few enforced redundancies out of the 35 among technicians as there were simply too many of them. It is always a shame to lose staff that have been here a long time and their personal expertise."

Peter Harvey, from the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE), declined to comment on the job losses.