Job cuts at Bradford College could harm the safety of the city centre campus, according to one concerned member of staff.

The college has announced it will be cutting support staff posts, with an estimated 80 positions likely to be shed in the coming months.

About 45 cleaning and toilet attendant jobs could go, along with six crafts and labour jobs, several IT positions and five learning resource assistants.

And causing concern to unions are the cuts to security staff with predicted job losses including all five of the night security staff and three “static” security staff. The only security staff the college will retain are CCTV operators.

The college is in consultation with staff in the different departments over the job losses.

Later this year the college moves into its new Hockney building, and management say this means fewer staff are required, although it has described any job losses as “regrettable.”

An anonymous letter from a member of staff sent to the Telegraph & Argus questioned the decision to cut security. It said: “Considering the area the college is in it stands to reason that the crime rate will go up once word gets out that there is no security presence. The cuts would appear draconian to say the least.”

The staff are represented by the GMB and Unison unions, both of which are in discussion with university bosses.

Tristan Chard, of the GMB union, said: “We have begun discussions with members and the college on how to try to save jobs, and we will be challenging some of what the college is claiming.

“Things are fluid at the moment, and the numbers of job cuts can change, but there will be significant reductions, and it only seems to be in support staff.”

Rob Demaine, of Unison, said: “It is inevitable a large proportion of these cuts will be redundancies. I share concerns about security. The college is in an area where there can be some dubious characters around and I don’t think the college has looked at the whole picture.

A spokesman for the college said: “With a reduced estate and moving from four buildings to one, security staff are inevitably one of the areas affected by the transformation programme. There will continue to be a 24-hour security presence on campus, as student and staff security is paramount.”