THE investment needed in the Padgate campus was too high to keep it open the University of Chester's vice chancellor has told staff.

In an email sent on Friday, Eunice Simmons also said teaching will be based in the town centre from next September.

The university has announced it will close its campus in Fearnhead and operate out of a unit in Time Square.

Talks are also understood to be under way about using the former tax office at Mersey Bank House on Barbauld Street.

The current campus site on Crab Lane could become housing in future.

Ms Simmons said, in an email seen by the Warrington Guardian: "The extensive review as part of the Warrington Project last year enabled us to evaluate our current provision and to understand how best to realise our ambition to broaden the reach and accessibility of the University in Warrington.

"The conclusion was clear: because of the investment needed on the current campus doing nothing was not an option and our current location should be reconsidered.

"To future proof the University locally and establish closer connections with the communities we serve we will need to establish a town centre presence.

"This will therefore result in the eventual teach out of the Warrington Padgate site, with all of our available Warrington provision being based from the town centre by September 2022.

"We will have a highly visible ‘shop front’, allowing people to come in on foot and engage directly with the university in the regenerated town centre area of Time Square. The prime position will benefit from high footfall and allow our students to benefit from ease of access to leisure and retail facilities and public transport.

"It is intended that this site will become an information hub for a wide range of stakeholders including the public, with flexible space for meetings/seminars/networking to educate and innovate.

"We are also actively seeking a second building nearby which will accommodate our core teaching provision, tapping into potential new markets for higher education and taking learning into the heart of the community, where we will find more of our citizen students.

"The move also enables the University to be embedded into the Warrington economy, responding to both local need and demand whilst focussing on areas of growth and providing strategic support for the post-Covid economic and cultural recovery."

Warrington Wolves will also now look for a new training base.

Although it is understood it will still be able to use Padgate until at least the end of this year.

Papua New Guinea will also use the facilities ahead of the Rugby League World Cup this autumn.