LECTURERS at a North-East university have started industrial action over job cuts.

More than 630 lecturers at Northumbria University will not mark essays or exam scripts after hearing of plans to cut 130 jobs - nearly seven per cent of staff.

Natfhe union leaders have demanded an external audit after university bosses said the college needs to save £3.6m by next August to maintain standards.

A university spokesman maintained that the jobs would be lost in ways least damaging to people, including voluntary redundancies and post transfers