West Cheshire College is to move into part of a charity hub where its chairwoman of governors is a trustee.

Days after the college confirmed its flagship Handbridge campus will close, it has admitted it is looking to move some facilities into the Blue Coat building in Northgate Street.

The move, which is expected to affect community education classes, would see students studying in the building recently refurbished as a centre for charities and voluntary organisations.

Chester Municipal Charities said they would rent the 9,000 sq ft space to the ‘voluntary sector’ when they bought the remainder of the building from the Blue Coat foundation last year.

But now, it has been confirmed West Cheshire College will move into part of the Grade II listed building – but no timeframe or details of classes have been revealed.

Former city MP Christine Russell, a trustee of the Municipal Charities – who now own the Northgate Street building – is also the chairwoman of governors at West Cheshire College.

Ms Russell said: “West Cheshire College is one of 10 organisations that will have space in the building. In addition, there will be an accessible and affordable training suite and meeting room that can be hired by tenants of the building and other organisations.”

A spokesperson for the college said that having a presence at the Blue Coat had always been part of the plan and confirmed no further decisions had been reached following the closure announcement last month.

“It is not going to be a college, it is not going to be a campus,” she said, adding the college doesn’t just provide courses for 16- to 18-year-olds but to adults and those in the community.

She added: “This has always been part of our plans regardless of what was happening at Handbridge.

“It is just part of us offering different services to the community.

“It is nothing new, this is something we have been speaking about for a long time.”

The University and College Union (UCU) says it is concerned about the loss of the city campus and the impact on staff.

UCU regional official, Martyn Moss, said: “UCU will be urgently seeking information from the college as so far any plans to continue provision in the city and the timescale or numbers affected are very unclear.

“We will also be raising concerns about the possibility of yet further job losses on top of the redundancies that occurred last summer.”