Preston College has joined a national campaign to protect adult learning after the government pulled the funding plug on courses.

Last month the college announced 100 redundancies and the loss of 2,500 adult course places after bosses discovered that a shift in government priorities meant the institution would lose £1.1million funding towards adult courses, many held in the evening.

The college has been told it must increasingly concentrate on providing education for 16 to 18-year-olds instead.

The campaign being run by the Association of Colleges seeks to protect the adult courses.

Principal Stuart Ingleson, said the college was told in January that it would receive a £1.2million increase on its £35m budget. Last month bosses were handed a meagre £70,000 extra for 2005/06.

He said the campaign would probably do little for the college's fortunes in the short term.

"In the long term I think this campaign is very important. We are facing the prospect that the 2006/07 round of funding could be even worse," he added.

"Cutting adult education runs directly counter to what the college is about, we want to be able to re-engage adult learning in the community."

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for administering government funding to colleges.

Steve Palmer, executive director of LSC in Lancashire, said: "Colleges are feeling pressure in part because of their success in driving up rates of participation, retention and achievement among students."

He said education and training for the 16-18 age group was top of the agenda.

"This inevitably means that areas of education and training outside our priority areas, such as part-time courses for adults, will feel the funding pressure."

l A spokesman for Runshaw College, Leyland said it would be making eight posts redundant.