THEY'VE been faithfully sewing material in beautiful patterns for decades, sending quilts to baby wards, museums and schools.

But now a group of elderly seamstresses say they've been stitched up for good as their Southampton patchwork and quilting club faces the axe.

The group of 25 people have been meeting at St Mark's School, in Stafford Road, Shirley, for their term-time morning class for years.

They've lovingly stitched countless blankets for Princess Anne Hospital's neo-natal unit, created a stunning quilt which was raffled for Macmillan Cancer Relief for £1,250 and made a wall-hanging for Southampton Museum.

But this month bosses at Southampton City College announced that they were scrapping the much-loved class and replacing it with a six-week taster session on the other side of the city in Woolston.

Marion Brascombe, of Shelley Road, Thornhill Park, fumed: "This group is part of this city. It's also an extremely social group.

"I joined 11 years ago when I retired.

"It's such a lovely class and I would never give it up.

"I lost my husband five years ago and those people helped me through that.

"I just can't see the reason behind closing down the group. Why can't they run the taster sessions alongside our group?"

Helen Mason, director of student and community support at Southampton City College, said the classes did not fit into the college's "new vision".

"Programmes like these have essentially become subsidised clubs for people who enjoy pursuing a hobby or a craft in a social setting."

Ms Mason added: "The college understands that some learners who have been participating in the same repeat programmes for many years will be disappointed by this new approach."