A GROUP of St Helens College students staged a protest about the axing of its counsellor service.

The students, who are studying university courses, gathered outside the Water Street campus in the town centre on Wednesday morning (December 16).

They say liaison officers have informed them there will be no replacement service put in place, with students who need help being told to make a referral to their GP.

"This is important because suicide rates go up when people do go into further education," said criminal justice and law student Laura Milne.

"It is nice to have that release and someone to go to speak to without that facility you are going to have to go to a doctor and the waiting lists are ridiculous.

"The service is just not going to be available straight away and it will disadvantage people who come forward if they have issues. It is going to impact on the students emotionally," added Laura, 28, from Thatto Heath.

Deputy principal Rob Molloy said the decision to cut the service was not one taken easily and that student welfare was still taken "very seriously" by the college.

“The loss of our counselling role is not a decision that we have taken lightly as a college," he said.

"Funding cuts in the Further Education sector mean that we have to examine our running costs closely to ensure that the college remains in a good financial position.

"We take the welfare of our students very seriously and we have very well trained staff to help any student who may need additional support.

"We are proactive with local agencies who specialise in a diverse range of support services and have a robust referral process in place.”