Prof Cowan has called for support for the Dumfries campus

Professor Ted Cowan said he spoke for all his staff in calling for the university's presence in the town to be saved in the face of a funding crisis.

He has compiled a detailed defence stressing its educational and economic importance to Dumfries and Galloway.

The university has said it could quit the campus due to heavy annual losses.

It has appealed for extra funding as the Crichton operation is reported to be losing �800,000 a year.

Unless the Scottish Funding Council comes up with more cash, the university has said it could start a phased withdrawal from Dumfries.

Prof Cowan has written to a range of groups across Dumfries and Galloway urging them to protest to the university principal and the funding council.

Economic contribution

He said the university had 49 staff, contributing �2.5m to the local economy.

He added that it had helped to stem rural depopulation by retaining young people who previously would have moved away.

Paisley University and Bell College share the Crichton campus with Glasgow, but Prof Cowan said they were complementary establishments.

He argued they would not be able to match the range and excellence of the University of Glasgow's core courses, nor the exceptional academic qualifications of its staff.