A report by MPs will condemn university bosses over controversial proposals to close a highly-respected chemistry department, The Argus can reveal.

Due to be published next month, it will criticise the University of Sussex for bad planning and poor consultation.

The Commons Science and Technology Committee will launch a withering attack on the university's vice-chancellor, Professor Alasdair Smith, for keeping his plans secret from the department's head, Gerry Lawless.

The Argus has seen extracts from the committee's draft report and can reveal MPs believe the plan to axe chemistry degrees in favour of a hybrid bio-chemistry course had "not been properly thought though" and its execution was marked by "a lack of consulation".

Their report says: "It is extraordinary that the head of department was not consulted on the proposals at the outset.'

In one of the most damning passages, the report points the finger at Prof Smith for failing to give the department the support it deserved.

It says: "The responsibility for the small size of the department rests squarely with the vice chancellor who made no attempt to replace staff."

It also accuses university bosses of taking "a negative view" about declining student numbers rather than seeking to build on the department's successes.

The report is in draft form and therefore subject to changes before the final version is published next month.

But the leaked extracts demonstrate how badly the university's actions have gone down with MPs.

Sussex University refused to comment on the contents of the leaked report.

A university spokeswoman said: "The university's plans for investing in excellence are pressing ahead with recruitment to new posts in the arts and sciences and we are reviewing plans for life sciences including chemistry." University bosses will study proposals for the chemistry department at a meeting of the strategic review committee on May 4. The matter will then go to the Senate, the university's highest academic body, before a final decision on the future of the department is taken by the University Council on May 15.

Although the select committee's final report - which MPs want published before the crucial May 15 meeting - will have no legal force, it is likely to provide defenders of the department with extra ammunition.

Des Turner, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and a member of the science and technology committee, who once worked in the university's chemistry department, told The Argus he was hopeful chemistry degrees could still be saved.

He said: "There's every possibility of retaining the chemistry department, even after the damage which this has done to it.

"If the university is serious about wishing to maintain its position as a leading science university a full chemistry department is absolutely essential."