ANGRY lecturers are to protest outside the VIP opening of a prestigious college art gallery tonight.

Staff at Bournemouth and Poole College will take a pay dispute to the launch of its £2.4 million Study Gallery, which they have likened to the Millennium Dome.

They are angry that the college has not yet given all its staff a 3.3 per cent wage rise agreed nationally.

But staff at the gallery in North Road, Poole, have joined the college's principal in opposing the demonstration.

Members of the lecturers union NATFHE say the college should be able to fund their pay rise at a time when it has £4 million in reserves. It has spent money on the gallery and on designing a new logo, they argue.

"Many college staff are unconvinced as to the purpose of the study gallery," a NATFHE statement said.

"There has been no general invitation to college staff to attend the opening and many feel that the project is a white elephant for the self-aggrandisement of the principal and the chair of governors. Hence the 'Dome' tag."

But college principal Richard Dimbleby said many staff were "appalled and disappointed" at plans for the demonstration.

He said the college had only given the gallery project £50,000 plus the land for the building. The majority of funding had come from the Arts Council Lottery Board, the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and other foundations, businesses and individuals.

"The majority of staff are very supportive of the Study Gallery and their colleagues who work there. All staff have been encouraged to use this new college facility and have been kept informed throughout the project," he said.

He said the 3.3 per cent rise would be paid when the college met income and enrolment targets, which should be within months.

Staff at the Study Gallery have written an open letter to colleagues expressing their "sadness" at the planned demonstration.

"Our guests cannot influence the pay claims. We feel that they should not be the target. Many young people will be involved," they wrote.