16137/5STUDENTS on an upholstery course at Devizes College have threatened a sit-in demonstration in protest at the decision to make them pay a whole year's fees in advance.

The students, many of whom are pensioners, say they will disrupt the college if they do not get a satisfactory answer to why they are being asked to pay the fee of £250 up front instead of being able to pay one term at a time.

One of the students, Lucy Newcombe, said: "We found out about the change just two weeks ago when someone walked in and said we would have to pay the entire year's fees in advance and, by the way, the fees are going up."

For Mrs Newcombe, who spends much of her salary as a marketing manager on child care, finding the full sum of the year's fees will be a struggle, but she says it is so much more difficult for people on a fixed income, like pensioners.

She said: "It isn't just the course fees, but they have to pay for the materials as well. "

Mrs Newcombe has tried to contact college principal George Bright, but without success. She said that if she and her fellow students on the course don't hear soon, they are quite prepared to stage a sit-in at the college.

She said: "At least we will have something to sit on."

Another student on the course, pensioner Helena Warnock, from Little Cheverell, said she had already invested a lot in her hobby. She said: "I had to buy a set of tools at about £80.

"At least we can buy materials as we go along, but I just don't know if I can afford the full year's fees in one go. I would really miss the course. I think they would be lucky to get 12 people prepared to come up with the money for all three terms, and then they would have to cancel the course. Perhaps that's what they want."

Mr Bright, the principal of Wiltshire College, which runs the Devizes branch college, said that students would still be able to pay in instalments if that was more convenient to them. He said: "The situation is that we are looking at cuts of between £500,000 and £1 million in our funding from the Government next year and we are looking at various ways of saving this money. Fees are going up by ten per cent, but those paying the full year's fees in advance will be given a ten per cent discount. Pensioners already receive a 20 per cent discount."

He said he would be writing individually to all those who have complained about the new system.

But Lucy Newcombe was not satisfied by Mr Bright's assurances. She said: "As I understand it, the four instalments would have to be paid in September and October, so you would be paying the extra ten per cent for very little gain. If we do not get a satisfactory reply from Mr Bright, we will go ahead with our action."

Tutor Rachel Bailey said the new regime would put the course beyond the pocket of many of the present students and discourage those who wanted to try it for a term before committing themselves completely.

She said: "I understand they are doing this in all the arts and crafts courses. Surely they don't want to see so many people drifting away from Devizes College."