CATASTROPHIC mismanagement and a lack of direction from Government led to the collapse of a flagship college rebuilding programme, and will result in millions of pounds being written off, MPs said last night.

King George V and Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College are among the places that have been forced to shelve plans for new buildings because of the collapse of the Building Colleges for the Future scheme.

Bosses of both colleges were promised tens of millions of pounds of cash for the facilities, only to see those promises broken last month.

A damning Commons select committee report concluded that the Building Colleges for the Future scheme suffered due to a “lack of responsibility and an ‘‘air of distraction’’.

It heaped blame on the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the Government agency responsible for handing out funds, and the now defunct Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) for the funding crisis.

Around 144 colleges across the country saw their building projects frozen by the LSC in December, after money for the programme ran out.