MORE than 160 higher education jobs are thought to be under threat in Lancashire following a financial announcement by a leading employer.

Bosses at UCLan (the University of Central Lancashire) say issues such as UK tuition fees being frozen for a decade and inflation have prompted a major staffing review.

And management estimates around five per cent of their 3,300 staff headcount, or around 165 positions, will have to go.

Alongside their main campus in Preston UCLan also runs a university centre in Burnley and Blackburn-based Training 2000.

Just last week UCLan was also unveiled as the partner in Blackburn's prospective education zone project.

University vice-chancellor Prof Graham Baldwin said: "At a time when income is static and our expenditure is growing, we need to start reducing our costs as well as balancing developing areas of growth and investing in areas that attract students to study with us.

"While it is important we reduce our costs and our staff base over the coming months, it is also important to remember that we remain a strong-performing university delivering quality teaching to thousands of students.

"We remain a large employer in the region but we must embrace change by thinking and delivering differently.”

University chiefs say they contribute more than £200m to the North West economy annually but they have been hit by developments such as 'declining international student recruitment following Government changes to visa requirements' and the tuition fees pressure.

The university says it has launched a voluntary redundancy scheme and will be asking for expressions of interest from its academic and professional services employees.

Prof Baldwin added: “The higher education sector is facing unprecedented financial challenges and we need to proactively respond in order to be more agile and able to deal with the pace of change impacting the sector today and into the future.

"We know this is a concerning time for our staff and we have support systems in place during this difficult time. As ever our continued priority is our students and giving them a great university experience.”