MP slams decision to mothball Ambleside campus

MP Tim Farron has slammed a decision to totally close the Ambleside campus of the University of Cumbria in September 2010.

Staff and students were told of the closure in meetings at the campus this afternoon by the University's vice chancellor. Many staff and students have already contacted Tim's office to raise their concerns about the decision.

Tim has been working to save the campus with the students' union and others, and has today pledged to step up his campaign in the light of the news.

Commenting Tim said:

"Keeping Ambleside Campus open to undergraduate students will guarantee a strong profile for our area, maintain a vibrant community with a balanced age range and give underlying strength to the local economy. Removing undergraduates from Ambleside would threaten all of this. Ambleside has also proven to be the most successful campus in terms of recruitment in recent years - to effectively close the campus is madness as well as a huge blow to staff, students and the whole local community.

"Hundreds of local people have signed a petition and that shows how committed the community is to stopping this closure from happening. I hope that the University will take notice of the level of protest against this proposal and will reconsider their decision to downgrade Ambleside campus - which is the University of Cumbria's only campus in the south of the county."