SALISBURY College faces a future as an outcast in educational circles if it does not come up with an explanation for the abrupt departure of principal Howard O'Keeffe after just eight months in the post.

The principals of Wiltshire's other major further education colleges have joined together to launch a scathing attack on Salisbury College bosses, accusing them of mismanagement and describing Mr O'Keeffe's departure as "a clear breach of employment law, against any sense of natural justice and unnecessarily public and humiliating".

In a letter addressed to the board of governors, they take the college leadership to task in the strongest possible terms and demand a radical overhaul of the way the college is managed.

Wiltshire College principal George Bright, New College head Graham Taylor and the principal of Swindon College, Mike Hopkins, call for the removal of Salisbury college chairman Peter Riggs and ask all governors who were party to the decision to remove Mr O'Keeffe to "consider their positions".

The principals threaten that, if Salisbury College does not take action to reach a settlement with Mr O'Keeffe, they will move to have it suspended from the Association of Colleges, have the actions of the board investigated by the department for education and skills and advise all potential candidates for the headship to avoid Salisbury like the plague.

Their letter warns: "Do not underestimate the anger your actions have caused and the damage you have done to the reputation of Salisbury College."

Mr Bright described the threats as "very real" and said that he and his fellow principals were "very prepared" to carry them out, if the governors did not respond quickly and satisfactorily.

He said he and his colleagues could effectively blacklist Salisbury College, making it near-impossible to recruit a replacement for Mr O'Keeffe.

He said: "Our contacts in education are extremely good. There is a national network of college principals.

"We could get in touch with every single one of them and let them know the situation in Salisbury and we could ask them to pass on the information to all their senior staff who might consider applying for the post."

The measure could also hit recruitment of teachers and students. Mr Bright confirmed that he had been contacted by both teaching staff and other Salisbury college insiders, backing Mr O'Keeffe and urging Wiltshire principals to take action against "certain members" of Salisbury College board.

He said: "We are deeply concerned that Mr O'Keeffe's long and very successful career in education has been ruined in a very short space of time.

"A man's future has been blighted simply because he went to Salisbury."

As of this week, the governors remained tight-lipped about the reasons for Mr O'Keeffe's departure. The college has refused to reveal details of the decision to part company with the principal, on the grounds that it would violate the confidentiality of his contract of employment.

Mr Riggs would say only that an interim appointment was expected to be made fairly rapidly. The post will be advertised and a permanent replacement found as swiftly as possible.

He refused to comment on the contents of the letter from the Wiltshire principals.

The Journal has also seen a report detailing the findings of a team of independent consultants engaged by Mr O'Keeffe to assess the college and deal with its "multiple problems".

The initial findings were completed and circulated around the college by Mr O'Keeffe at the end of October.

They recommend sweeping financial reforms and changes to the staffing structure and roles and responsibilities of senior management.

In an internal e-mail, Mr O'Keeffe described the report as "by no means the end of the story".

He was planning to make new appointments, establishing a team of managers with specific areas of expertise.

Over the next three months, he had planned to turn the interim report into a detailed plan of action to transform the way the college was run.