College chiefs had been hoping to secure finance from the Learning and Skills Council to help them push ahead with the state-of-the-art rebuild.

But the LSC announced on Friday that the Mansfield college had missed out on the funding cashpot.

Instead, just 13 colleges nationwide will get LSC cash to carry out rebuilding schemes.

They are:
Barnsley College
Bournville College
Furness College
Hartlepool College of Further Education
Kirklees College
Leyton Sixth Form College
Manchester College – Wythenshawe
North West Kent College
St Helens College
Sandwell College
South Thames College
Tresham Institute of Further and Higher Education, Corby
West Cheshire College

West Notts principal Asha Khemka said she and her colleagues were 'bitterly disappointed' at the news.

"Our planned new college would have provided state-of-the-art teaching and learning space for our growing student population and acted as a catalyst for regeneration along the Mansfield and Ashfield Regeneration Route (MARR)," she said.

"However, we're pleased for those colleges whose schemes will now go ahead.

"We met all the selection criteria and made as strong a case as possible, but obviously there were more college projects than there was funding available.

"We are extremely grateful for the overwhelming support we received from the Mansfield and Ashfield community, in particular local business people and politicians, who lobbied on our behalf.

"We are now exploring all available options to realise the college's vision of helping to regenerate local communities, widening participation amongst young people and adults in education and bringing world class educational facilities to Mansfield and Ashfield.

"The college has already demonstrated it can bring world class facilities to the area, as shown by the creation of our state-of-the-art construction and logistics skills academy in Kirkby, which was visited by Prince Charles earlier this year – a success story achieved without LSC financial support."

For full story see Wednesday's Chad.