������̳

More than 2,000 staff who work at Keele University are being offered the chance to take voluntary redundancy.

Bosses have sent out the invitation, in response to the freezing of tuition fees, high inflation and a volatile international recruitment market.

While it had been able to mitigate them over the last few years, it now needed to "put ourselves in the best possible position for the future", the university said.

It will consider all applications on a case-by-case basis from 2, 300 staff, it confirmed.

In a statement the university said: "We have taken successful steps to mitigate these challenges over the last few years.

"But as with all UK universities we need to put ourselves in the best possible position for the future so that we can continue to deliver our charitable purpose of delivering education and research that makes the world a better place.

"As such, we will soon be opening a voluntary severance scheme as a cost-saving initiative, and all applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis so that there is no impact on the student experience.”

Follow ������̳ West Midlands on , and . Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk