COLLEGE bosses today strongly denied claims over staff unrest at a Greenock campus.

A whistleblower contacted the Tele raising a series of issues at West College Scotland — claiming its Finnart Street building is in poor condition and that there is a rift between staff and management.

The source described the campus as leaking ‘non-stop’, raised question marks over facilities and staffing levels and said there were fears about the future of further education in Greenock.

The insider also made allegations about ‘intimidation’, saying staff had been warned to ‘be quiet and say nothing’ - with the WCS building in Paisley even dubbed ‘The Kremlin’.

But college chiefs have today hit back - saying they are ‘open and transparent’ with workers and trade unions.

Management also pointed out that £6 million had been invested in the Finnart Street campus in recent years, although they conceded that more improvements are needed to bring it up to scratch.

Bosses have also reaffirmed their commitment to a presence in Greenock and say they are continuing to look at ways of modernising the building as a ‘key priority’.

Audrey Cumberford, WCS principal and chief executive, said: “West College Scotland has made admirable progress in the two-and-a-half years since merger.

“We are now the second-largest regional college in Scotland, employing 1,200 staff, with a turnover of more than £55m.

“We are using this scale and our enhanced level of influence for the benefit of all our communities across the entire west region, including here in Inverclyde.

“We know that some of our facilities in Greenock need to be modernised.

“We have always acknowledged this.

“This represented a key priority from the point of merger and remains so. Our Paisley estate also requires significant capital investment, and we are working closely with the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Futures Trust to develop a business case to secure significant capital investment for both town campuses.

“£6m has also been invested in our Finnart Street campus in recent years and it now boasts some of the best student social areas and teaching workshops in Scotland. However, we are well aware that other areas in Finnart Street are not of similar quality. 

“We are open and transparent with our staff on this and other issues. As a college, we are committed to building on the positive and respectful relations we already have with all our trade unions. Partnership working is at the heart of what we do.”

The whistleblower who anonymously contacted the Tele complained about ‘waste of taxpayers’ money’ at the Finnart Street campus in Greenock, citing a £780,000 car and bike spray paint workshop as an example.

The source claims it is underused and is seen by some as a ‘white elephant’.

But college bosses today shot that claim down by saying 163 students enrolled to use the facility in 2015-16 and the facility.

They also said that the workshop - which was installed by those in charge of the former James Watt College four years ago prior to the merger - is ‘among the best’ in Scotland.

Ms Cumberford said: “We have faced many challenges over the last two years as a result of merging three colleges, experiencing further reductions in funding and having to work in new and different ways as a result of a period of tremendous change. 

“Our staff told us they want our new college to be based on ‘trust’. I believe that we are now embedding trust as one of the vital values in the DNA of West College Scotland.

“How we do things at West College Scotland – our culture – will be shaped by the approach and behaviours of all of our staff.”