Lecturers are threatening strike action after redundancies were announced at one of the south's leading higher education colleges.

Dr Mick Jardine from NATFHE

22 academic posts are to go and some courses will be closed down at Southampton Institute.

The lecturers union NATFHE is particularly aggrieved that the cuts come so soon after the Principal, Roger Brown, had received an above-inflation pay rise

Southampton Institute issued a written statement attributing the cuts to the waning popularity of subjects such as politics and the social sciences.

Southampton Insitute

They say the redundancies are regrettable but insist they compare favourably with the situation at universities across the country.

Natfhe members have already voted in favour of strike action, but they say that would be a last resort and hope to persuade the institute to rethink their plans.

Southampton Institute is one of the South's biggest colleges with 12,000 students.