PETERSFIELD people have been branded "pathetic" after it was announced the future of adult education courses in the town was in serious doubt. Communiweb Limited, which holds the contract for Learndirect services in East Hampshire for the next two years, is trying to leave its premises in the Festival Hall following a lack of interest in its courses. It leaves facilities for adult education in the town hanging by a thread, with government funding drastically reduced over the next 12 months. This week, the company's operational manager, Alan Smith, slammed the lack of interest shown by Petersfield residents. He said the remainder of the funding he had available would now be shifted to successful centres in Alton and Liphook. He told The Herald: "The centre has hardly been used. I am very disappointed with the people of Petersfield who, through the pages of The Petersfield Herald, were jumping up and down when Fareham College pulled out of the town. "We came to their rescue and, in return, the residents have not supported us. They did not respond to our marketing. "For some reason, the people of Petersfield have not wanted to do courses with us. Now funding has definitely been cut for the next 12 months by the Learning and Skills Council. "We will use the rest of the funding in Alton and Liphook." There was a massive outcry in March 2004, when Fareham College announced it was to pull out of the town, taking its adult education courses with it. The south coast college had offered a range of recreational and educational courses in partnership with The Petersfield School. But following a review of its services, the college was forced to pull out of the town that summer. Communiweb took up a lease for space in the Festival Hall in January 2005, responding to a plea from town's folk for a replacement. They offered courses for a range of IT qualifications, as well as basic English and maths for adults. But now Mr Smith says he is at a loss to explain why people in the town have not wanted to come forward and use the service. "People know about us. We have advertised the courses everywhere, we have sent out leaflets and done the same amount of marketing we do at all our other centres. "It is the people of Petersfield who have not performed - they have been pathetic. The uptake for all our courses in Petersfield is a third less than at our other centres." News of the possible departure of Communiweb from Petersfield was revealed at a meeting of the town council's public halls committee on Monday. In an email to members, managing director Catherine Smith said: "We are disappointed that Learndirect hasn't appealed to the people of Petersfield, and will endeavour to have an outreach presence, at least for the foreseeable future." After the meeting, former mayor Vaughan Clarke told The Herald it was more the abundance of alternative adult learning providers than the apathy of townsfolk that led to the lack of interest in Learndirect. "We do have a very strange situation in Petersfield, where there are quite a lot of that type of learning provider. "A lot of Petersfield people who work do so out of the town, and when you measure its profile against other places in the country, it has a high level of employment. And for adult education, there are quite a lot of things going on. "I would not blame the people of Petersfield. On the whole, there are more things going on here than in other towns. "It is a great shame that Learndirect is leaving, but it needed to be here longer in order to get properly established in the town."