ANXIOUS staff at Fareham College will have to wait until after Easter to find out if their jobs are safe.

Principal Carl Groves has confirmed there will be redundancies among the college's 750 full-time and part- time staff but refused to say how many posts would go.

"We made a small number of redundancies a couple of weeks ago," he said.

"After Easter there will be some more redundancies but also new opportunities. We will have a number of new appointments to fill."

The job cuts come in a bid to improve the financial performance of the college, which from 2001-2002 had an operating deficit of £198,000.

Peter Harvey, the college representative for the lecturers' union NATFHE said the last few weeks had been a "very worrying" time for staff.

"Since taking over last October the principal has inherited a very difficult position," he said.

"He has to try to improve the college's financial situation, but I don't think the way forward is to make people redundant."

Mr Groves insists the shake-up will be a "two-way process" signalling a new direction for the Bishopsfield Road college.

As part of the college's new strategy it will offer more vocational courses because of the lack of existing choice in the Fareham and Gosport area.

Mr Groves also wants to set up closer links between the college and local employers.

"These job cuts are not just a knee-jerk reaction. They are part of a positive realignment of the way the college is run," he said.

Last month the college announced it was closing two IT learning centres at West Street, Fareham, and Castle Street, Portchester, because it could no longer afford to run them. They opened less than a year ago.

The college also withdrew its mobile IT bus from service because of a lack of interest. College bosses insisted the cutbacks - including 12 full-and part-time job losses - were necessary after predicting the IT scheme would lose around £100,000.