TUTORS and students at a St Margaret's university have been voicing their opposition at plans to sell the site whilst both academics involved in the sale and the council say it will bring benefit to students and residents.

Richmond upon Thames Council have given university bosses the go ahead to sell off half their Railshead Road site, on the Isleworth borders, to property developers for affordable housing.

The site, on prime riverside land, is estimated to be worth in the region of £16 million to developers. Staff and students will be moved to a new site in Uxbridge.

The plan has caused a great deal of upset, with many feeling they have been betrayed by Richmond upon Thames Council. The university had tried to sell their site at Osterley Park but Hounslow Council refused on the grounds of education.

A Brunel insider, who did not want to be identified, said: "This is an open space on the riverside which was earmarked for education. Richmond upon Thames Council should not have allowed this on land for which there was an education covenant that it always be kept for education.

"I and many others feel that if it is sold on it should be to another education institution."

They said the Twickenham site was earmarked for education 100 years ago when Maria Grey enlisted the support of the wealthy to build a college there, reputedly the first college for ladies in the country.

The insider said: "This is a 100-year-old site and many people feel very passionately that it should be kept for education, the purpose that Maria Grey collected on its behalf 100 years ago. The site at Twickenham has been a great catchment area for social work students.

Many people would have chosen the course because it is such a beautiful site to study at and is easy to access from south London. If we move to Uxbridge it will take several hours for students to get there.

She added: "Richmond used to be called a university town which is a nice thing to be known as. You can carry on building more and more property but we are still going to need schools. '

A spokesman for Richmond upon Thames Council said that the university had decided to consolidate its campuses, which will include the sale of the Twickenham campus.

She said: "The council has had no input into the university's decision to relocate.

"The draft planning brief went to the council's overview and scrutiny committee last week and is now with the executive member for the environment, Cllr Katie Gent, for her approval before it goes out for public consultation. The planning brief will enable prospective buyers to see the opportunities and limits to the site before they submit a planning application to the council.''

Cllr Gent said she believed the site was originally the location of two large private houses when there was no desire for public access from the river and then when developed into a university campus this public benefit had not been automatically considered. She said she hoped they would be able to arrange for better public benefit from the site within the sale.

She said: "We are looking at guidance for how the site will be developed when Brunel sell the site. There are some fine old buildings there which we would like to see retained and we would also like to see some improvement to routes through the site for local people.

Professor Steve Hodkins pro vice chancellor at Brunel said: The key thing is that what the university is doing is consolidating its activities in one campus so that it is able to better invest in the education of students from west London. "For every £1 we will spend £1 or £1.50 investing in the learning environment for students and the working environment for staff.

"There will be no loss to educational facilities anyway but a net gain. We hope to restore more community access. The university is committed to that. This is a very important site.''