DURHAM University is to axe several departments in an £8.7m reshuffle.

The university yesterday announced the decision to close the Department of East Asian Studies, phase out its European Studies programme and look into transferring its linguistics course to the University of Newcastle.

The changes - approved by a majority verdict by the university's governing council - are described as a "reinvestment programme".

A spokesman for the council said the £8.7m saved by the changes will be spent on other departments and although 40 jobs are threatened, the same number of posts will be created.

He said: "This hasn't been done just to save money. It's to move money around and strengthen the best departments and offer more places to students on subjects where demand is high, such as history, English, geography, law and so on."

When the plans were first announced, they provoked protests from students, who said the 90-day consultation period, which ran across the summer holiday, did not give enough opportunity to look into alternative proposals.

But the university said extensive consultation had taken place since June, and the feelings of various departments were incorporated into final plans.

A spokesman said the university also received many representations from graduates and others in support of keeping the Department of East Asian Studies.

This year's intake of undergraduates in East Asian Studies will be the last and they will be allowed to complete their degrees.

Other changes announced included merging two separate degrees in sport into a single programme and teaching Chinese and Japanese at a more advanced level.