A UNION has hit out after a college announced plans to axe up to 50 jobs ­— including 26 teaching posts.

The merged Trafford College and Stockport College has announced the consultation which will review teaching jobs in English, maths, gas and plumbing across its Altrincham, Stretford and Stockport sites.

The University and College Union (UCU) has reacted angrily to the move and says plans to put gas and plumbing roles at risk of redundancy is at odds with region’s construction boom.

It says that the news comes just a year after merger that was supposed to bring stability.

At the time the college said the move would “create a single, larger and more sustainable college better able to meet the current and future needs of students, employers and the local community”.

The union said its members would be meeting next week to discuss the news and how to respond.

UCU regional official Martyn Moss said: "Less than a year on from a merger the college said would bring stability and allow it to better serve students, businesses and the local community it is announcing plans to scrap jobs.

"There is no rationale for axing jobs in areas like English, maths, gas and plumbing and the move appears to be directly at odds with what the students, businesses and the local community actually need.

"UCU will resist any compulsory redundancies amongst our members and we will be meeting in the coming days to discuss this news and how best to respond to it."

The union understands the month-long consultation could see jobs terminated after the Easter holidays.

A college spokesman said: "Each year we review our plans to make sure we can provide high standards of teaching and learning to the community we serve.

"As part of this year’s review we have seen that there are some areas that need to be addressed in terms of staffing levels and how we operate some of our services.

"In many cases this simply means that we will not be recruiting for new vacancies, but we are also consulting with our Trade Unions on a proposal to, unfortunately, reduce approximately 27 full-time equivalent posts from the staff body representing a little under five per cent of the college group.

"We hope that these changes together with a number of other initiatives will help us to continue to serve our students more effectively in the future."