THE largest provider of land-based further education in England has been accused of harvesting grants for isolated areas before launching moves to close a rural campus by stealth.

Askham Bryan College, which has centres stretching from Hexham to York, has recently reversed a decision to shut its Thirsk centre in July and has issued a statement only guaranteeing to run courses at its purpose-built 3,250 sq ft space for a further academic year.

The college has received substantial financial support from a variety of agencies, including Yorkshire Forward and North Yorkshire County Council, to run courses at Thirsk Rural Business Centre since setting up a campus there in 2006.

Centre users have claimed the college had received grants, funded by taxpayers in the area to boost the rural economy, such as £35,000 for equipment for motor vehicle training in 2011, which was never used, and that the equipment had since been moved to its York campus.

One regular visitor to the centre said: "It has been like the movie Independence Day, where the aliens travel from planet to planet harvesting the natural resources."

Before opening the campus, the college pledged to offer training for students five days a week, providing hands-on experience in a wide range of rural activities.

At the time, the college's then principal said: "Thirsk, as a long-established market town, is an important area for us to take courses directly to people who, for a variety of reasons including distance and available time, may not otherwise be able to access them at other locations."

Users of the centre said they had been dismayed to see courses ranging from engineering-based ones to accounting being abandoned, leaving only two agricultural apprenticeship courses there.

When asked if Thirsk remained an important area for the college, and to respond to the claims, the college issued a brief statement.

Principal Liz Philip said: "Today’s funding landscape is totally different to that of 2006.

"Courses will continue at Thirsk until at least July 2016, but as with all our centres we continue to review the situation."

The business centre's director Ian Woodhead and Thirsk and Malton MP Anne McIntosh said they had been dismayed to learn the campus had an uncertain future.

Miss McIntosh said: "It would be helpful to know that any rural grant received is spent in a rural area such as Thirsk in Hambleton district rather than spent in another area such as York."

Mr Woodhead said: "It is up to the college to pull out the stops to make it work."