BEXLEY College is to make 25 college staff redundant and close its day nursery for staff and students, as it struggles to balance the books following a funding cut.

The college, in Tower Road, Erith, faces a 19 per cent cut in the government funding it receives for adult students.

Parents who send their children to the Redcliffe Nursery on the Tower Road site, were told last Friday the nursery is likely to close in July.

Interim college principal, Martin Peat, said staff were told of the impending redundancies at a meeting last Thursday.

There will now be a three-month consultation period before a final decision is made.

In addition, the college will axe its business and secretarial and welding courses.

Mr Peat said although the number of students, currently around 3,000, would remain the same, the age profile would be lower, with many more 16 to19-year-olds taking vocational courses.

Bexley College abandoned A level courses several years ago.

Mr Peat said he hoped most of the job losses would come through natural wastage and volunteers, but conceded there may have to be some compulsory redundancies.

He said: “This is not a decision the college wants to take.

“We are a successful college which has been improving over the past five years.”

Mr Peat said many other colleges offered larger business and secretarial courses than Bexley’s and said welding was a dying trade with only a handful of students on the current course.

Last year it replaced the 37 welding booths in its workshop with just six, which will be used as part of the college’s plumbing and heating and ventilation courses.

He confirmed if the nursery, which also provides limited places for the local community, closes the college would be looking to sell off the site.

He added: “We cannot afford to run loss-making activities such as the nursery, so we are going back to our core business.”

Mr Peat said the college was still hoping to sell the whole of the Tower Road site and was still in talks with Bexley Council about alternative locations for the college.

He added any move would depend on funding being available.

Mr Peat also confirmed the college has dropped all plans to merge with other colleges in the area.