HALESOWEN College has sacked three more lecturers from its stricken maths department.

On Friday the lecturers attended disciplinary proceedings and were told of their fate.

This follows the sacking of maths lecturer and UCU union representative David Muritu whose pleas for reinstatement have received over 9,000 signatures on an online petition.

Acting secretary of the UCU at Halesowen College Rhiannon Lockley was distraught after the meeting.

She said: "It was a long and very emotional day.

“We just want to say how impressed we were with the integrity and dignity shown by the three lecturers who received their verdicts today.

“We now have four dismissals, with identical paragraphs for the reason of dismissal - student success, in all cases linked to specific sets of results regardless of high performance elsewhere.”

She added: “Any criticism of management strategy within hearings taken as evidence of resistance of "support".

“Thank you to all the solidarity being shown. We are ready for anything after today, and we will keep pursuing what is right whatever is done to try and scare us."

Students, councillors, MPs, colleagues and parents have signed the online petition demanding “justice for the Halesowen Four”.

Benjamin Thompson, a Halesowen College pupil from Kingsinford, said: “David was my maths lecturer and was a mighty fine teacher and maths lessons are no longer the same without him. “Bring back David.”

Halesowen College released a statement last week blaming poor maths results for the disciplinary action.

Principal Keith Bate said: “The college will not condone consistent failure to deliver expected standards of performance including the need to be accountable for outcomes in accordance with established values and codes of conduct.

“Allegations of improper conduct being made against the college which appear to be associated with this situation are completely refuted.”