SALISBURY College principal Howard O'Keeffe has resigned, following months of controversy surrounding his position.

In a statement to the Journal last week, the college's board of corporation said a mutual agreement had now been made.

"The board has accepted Mr O'Keeffe's resignation on mutually acceptable terms and understand that he wishes to deploy his extensive skills and experience elsewhere," it said.

After interviews for an interim manager, Ray Dowd, principal of Wirral Metropolitan College, has been appointed and will continue in this role until a permanent appointment can be made.

The news came in the same week that the college was to be inspected by Ofsted, ending months of uncertainty. Mr O'Keeffe, 54, was originally taken on last March, following his success at Havant sixth-form college.

He was later sacked, then reinstated following claims that he had been dismissed unfairly by the board.

The board added: "In reaching this agreement, both Mr O'Keeffe and the board are aware of the need to give primacy to the needs of staff and students at this sensitive time and the need to avoid a long period of uncertainty."

Last Friday signalled the deadline for members of staff to apply for voluntary redundancy packages, after 85 job cuts were announced in February, as part of a package to try and salvage the troubled college - which is already £1m in debt.

Deputy principal Colin Briddick said the board had inquiries about voluntary redundancy.

"The process is still going ahead," said Mr Briddick. "A number of staff have asked for financial statements and have enquired about how it will affect them.

"We are having meetings with the various authorities, so everybody has been involved. We shall then put redundancy requests to senior management and they will decide."