More than 100 former students, staff and supporters of Oxford's Plater College have launched an 11th-hour bid to save it from closure.

The campaigners are setting up a public limited company and have lodged an application with the trustees demanding that they hand over the college and its assets.

The decision to close the college, after more than 80 years, follows a damning report by the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI).

The trustees, made up of senior Catholic figures, said they did not think the college could remain financially solvent in the face of falling student numbers.

As a charity, the trustees and governors are personally liable for any debts the college accrues, but this would not be the case if it became a public limited company.

It is the only Catholic adult residential college in England and campaigners are still waiting for a response to their appeals for support from the Vatican, education secretary Ruth Kelly and the Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair, who served as honorary president of the college last year.

Oxfordshire County Council member Mick McAndrews, a former student and staff member at the college, who is co-ordinating the campaign to save it, said: "There was no recommendation to close the college in the report and there's an overwhelming raft of support to keep it open.

"There's a lack of transparency here and members of the public have a right to know what's going on."

David Ansell, executive director of the regional Learning and Skills Council, the funding body for post-16 education, said: "It's understandable why the trustees and governors took the decision they did and they've set out their reasons clearly."

A spokesman for the ALI said: "During the course of the inspection serious concerns were raised by learners and staff about a number of issues.

"These issues were thoroughly investigated by the inspectors, who found serious failings with the college's leadership and management. Decisions about the future of the college are a matter for the board of governors, the funding body and the trustees."

A spokesman for the Catholic Education Service said: "We note with interest the move to create the Plater Foundation, but until we get more information we can't comment."

The college refused to comment.