AROUND 100 Bradford College students took to the streets to protest plans to cut staff and transfer some services to outside companies.

This afternoon students with placards condemning the cuts streamed out of the college's David Hockney building to the street. They were protesting both the proposed cuts within the college and national Government cuts in college funding.

As well as the protestors, more than 1,000 people have signed a petition against the job losses, which have been estimated by unions as possibly being between 79 and 140 staff.

The protests had been organised by Bradford College Students’ Union.

The college said cuts were necessary due to reductions in Government funding and a need to balance its budget.

It has since been announced that the college is looking to outsource some of its cleaning and maintenance services to "improve efficiencies".

Today's protest ended with students marching to the college's Old Building where the College Corporation was meeting, and a number of concerns were directly raised with members.

Umar Rafique, Vice-President of Bradford College Students’ Union said: “Our students feel these staff cuts are rushed and are a short-term solution to a long-term issue. The people of Bradford need the college for its opportunities for education and training, especially at a time when unemployment is rising. The quality of our education as students depends on good teachers and good support staff – reducing staff will affect the quality of education and the student experience. We are the future of Bradford and we need a diverse range of opportunities accessible to us at Bradford College in order to succeed.

“I would also like to urge our MPs to take action and challenge the Government about cuts to further education funding."

A College spokesman said: "The Students' Union is an independently run organisation. Its members are entitled to express their views as is appropriate. While we agree that the changes to the funding regime in the education sector are regrettable, Bradford College has identified a number of ways to find savings while minimising the impact on our services and the student experience.

"We firmly believe placing the students and the communities we serve centrally with any decision making will ensure that we make the right decisions going forwards."

On the planned outsourcing of cleaning and maintenance work, the college said it was "part of the wider initiative to improve efficiencies and enhance service provision where possible."

The college employs 1,493 staff on full-time and part-time contracts and has 18,631 full and part-time students, including 3,329 on higher education courses.