Students offered places at a popular art college will have to travel miles to an alternative site following the decision to close the campus.

About 60 people will have to make the extra 20-mile journey, taking anything up to half an hour, after bosses at Northbrook College Sussex announced they were shutting the campus in Hurst Road, Horsham.

The closure will affect students starting on two separate, one-year arts courses at the campus for the 2005/2006 academic year.

Five members of staff based in Horsham will also have to leave at the end of the summer and have been offered work at one of four other remaining campuses for the start of the autumn term in September this year.

College leaders said they had been forced to close because they were unable to meet the cost of renovating the Horsham site to provide complete disability access after it was taken on as an individual campus in 1986.

They also argue the courses on offer are available at other college departments in Union Place and West Durrington in Littlehampton Road, both in Worthing.

A college spokesman said: "The recent review only applies to Horsham and the site will now close at the end of this academic year.

"There was course duplication between our campuses at Horsham and Worthing and the amount of investment needed to get the site in line with disability access could not have been met.

"There is no other review into any other of our other sites and the college management is now considering selling the Horsham campus."

The announced closure is part of a review into course effectiveness and duplication across Northbrook College, which has further facilities at Shoreham airport in Shoreham and Broadwater Campus, also in Worthing.

Students due to start at Horsham in September have been offered a guaranteed place at one of the Worthing sites and will each receive a travel bursary to cover the extra cost of the journey.

More than 40 youngsters were given a tour of the alternative departments last week when they met with tutors and additional learning support staff.

Full and part-time courses for school leavers, degree students and adult learners in subjects including the arts, engineering and business are among the classes on offer at the college.