WEST Somerset College’s farm staff this week claimed that official reasons for the possible closure were “misleading”.

And as support continued to grow for a campaign to save the £1.4 million farm unit, its staff said it was far busier than the authorities claimed.

Bridgwater College Trust has taken over management of the college and is seeking to cut its £1.6 million deficit by pruning uneconomic vocational programmes offered to students.

The trust claimed that the farm was an “increasingly expensive resource,” was losing money and in future would only cater for less than a dozen students over two courses.

Mike Robbins, chairman of Bridgwater College Trust, explained that, because of significant financial problems, next year the college will only be able to offer curriculum classes where demand and class sizes are viable – and that will mean a reduced range of choices.

The college insists that no definite decision about the farm’s future has been made.

But the Free Press was told that staff have been advised to take voluntary redundancy and had been told there would be no more courses at the farm after August.

“We have asked for the figures which justify closing the farm and no one comes back to us,” said Derek Brown, farm supervisor for the past four years.

“They say there have been consultations but they certainly haven’t been any with the people who run the farm. It seems that no one wants to talk to us”

Mr Brown said he cannot accept the figures that have been produced to justify possible closure.

“We were very surprised by the estimate of ‘less than a dozen’ when at the moment we have 56 full-time students doing two-year courses and another 19 being mentored at the farm,” he said.

“Then we have over 200 children from nursery groups and first schools plus adult courses and visits. I can’t see how the figures from Bridgwater stack up, but no-one has discussed them with us.”

Mr Brown said the unit was a working farm which sold everything it produced, including pork, beef, lamb and turkeys and, excluding staff wages, made a profit of £3,500 last year.

Over the past eight years, it had become part of the local community – nearly 900 people went to last Sunday’s lambing day.

Local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, who visited the farm last Friday, said: “I have spoken to Mike Robbins [chairman of Bridgwater College Trust] and have asked him to look at the figures more carefully and also to see if there is anything else we can do to help the college farm.

“I do understand the financial pressures on the college but we must see if there’s a way in which we can perhaps work in co-operation with other people to continue running the farm.

“It’s early days but we are having to go back to basics and work together to find a solution so as not to lose this really valuable asset for the area.”

A Facebook group called Save Our College Farm, started by former college student Tasha Lothian, has approaching 2,000 members and continues to post comments from the public and past and present students.

Typical recent comments include:

l “So many children need the farm. To close it would be an utter disgrace.”

l “The farm unit has always played a big part in college life and it would be very sad to see it go.”

l “I wouldn’t have become a veterinary nurse without the college farm.”

l “This is an asset so many schools would give their eye-teeth for.”