Principal's 'regret' over compulsory redundancies

THE principal of an award-winning Lothian college has announced "with great regret" there will be compulsory redundancies after a 15 per cent cut to its budget.

David James of Oatridge College in Ecclesmachan, West Lothian, said he had already started consultations with staff as management at the specialist land-based college struggled to make savings of 250,000.

The job losses come in the face of news that West Lothian had the highest fall in unemployment of any local authority in Scotland over the last year.

The report, produced by Mackay Consultants, shows that West Lothian's rate of unemployment fell by 12.4 per cent between January 2010 and January this year.

Edinburgh saw a 3.7 per cent decrease - the fifth best in Scotland.