The textiles college merged with Heriot Watt in 1998

Heriot Watt University, which runs the world-renowned Scottish College of Textiles in Galashiels, is thinking about the move north to Edinburgh.

But some staff are disappointed with the plan being considered.

The university said it has not yet made a decision on the relocation and is still consulting over the matter.

The specialist college was merged with Heriot Watt in 1998, when staff said that assurances were given that the future of textiles courses in the Borders was secure.

Now an open letter from staff in Galashiels has been sent to the university management, expressing their concerns about a possible move.

One member of staff, who did not want to be named, said: "Primarily it is important that the educational integrity that is on offer in the courses is maintained.

"There are a lot of specialist staff and a lot of technical support available in the complex at the moment.

"If the courses are relocated to Edinburgh, it will be very difficult to maintain that degree of educational integrity, and there is a large number of staff who are local residents and that will impact on the Borders itself.

I travel all over the world and I see what graduates do and I think the textile course is second to none in the world Hamish Carruthers textiles expert

"As far as we were aware there was an intention to maintain the textile courses in the Borders. Obviously things change, funding changes included, but certainly the reassurances given in the last few years led us to believe that our future was secure.

"I think some staff will believe it is a reasonable move to make. But there are others who feel they have to go along with it because it is a specialist field."

A spokeswoman for the university said Heriot Watt had been asked by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council to undertake an options appraisal on the future of the textiles college.

One option was to co-locate with Borders College and a second option was to relocate to Edinburgh.

The spokeswoman emphasised that both options were still being discussed and a final decision would not be made for some months.

She added: "I think some staff are naturally concerned about the prospect of major change, others believe that change is right."

The college is currently running courses in the Borders

Borders textiles consultant Hamish Carruthers said he has come up with some proposals for keeping the Galashiels courses going and saving the university money at the same time.

He said: "I travel all over the world and I see what graduates do and I think the textile course is second to none in the world.

"They are scrapping machinery which in my mind is quite unique to the course itself. The type of machines I am referring to are yarn producers, and they give students a real understanding about how the initial part of fabric is made."

Mr Carruthers believes that the machines, some as big as 72ft long, could be re-housed in an old mill which was bought by Heriot Watt nine years ago.

He said the machines could be used in a semi-commercial enterprise.