A campaign has been launched to try to reverse cuts that could leave hundreds of people in Bristol waiting for courses and dozens of tutors and other staff without their jobs.

The reduction in Government money for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes will have a devastating effect on some inner-city communities, protesters fear.

Ethnic minorities and some of the least well-off people in the city are going to be hit disproportionately, they say.

The campaigners also question why, when the Government wants to promote community cohesion and encourage those new to the country to learn English and become economically active, it is reducing the money for courses that will help people to do that.

Councillor Jon Kiely (Lib Dem, Easton) plans to raise the matter at the full meeting of the city council on Tuesday.

He wants the authority to lobby the Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Mr Kiely said: "Cutting these courses will have a devastating impact on some of the most vulnerable in our community. These budget reductions will fall disproportionately on those in the ethnic community, particularly Somali and Muslim learners."

The Beacon Centre in Lawrence Hill, which has its main campus at The City Academy, says a 47 per cent cut in funding means staff redundancies and course cuts will be inevitable. It presently runs 72 courses including ESOL through a contract with City of Bristol College. It expects to cut the number to 38, meaning the number of adult learners is likely to fall from 864 to 456.

This will mean many of those wanting ESOL classes so they can learn English to help support their children and be able to get jobs will have to remain on a waiting list.

Six full-time and 13 part-time staff and up to 80 tutors are about to receive letters telling them redundancies will happen if more money cannot be found.

One person who has been helped by the courses is Agnieszka Mazur, 32, who is originally from Poland.

She said: "When I started I couldn't speak English – not even 'thank you' or 'good morning'.

"School helped me a lot and I'm a mum, so I had the support of the creche. Both of my children attended the creche and my husband studied in the evening. We have all made a lot of friends here."

As well as ESOL, other courses under threat include community interpreting, sign language for the deaf, counselling skills and community development.

City of Bristol College says the Learning and Skills Council wanted to cut its money for adult learning by £1.8 million this year. It has successfully lobbied for an additional £500,000 so far, which is enabling it to continue its own ESOL classes at campuses across the city.

But Ken Fyfe, of the Beacon Centre, said women from Easton and Lawrence Hill would not be able to travel to somewhere like the Ashley Down campus of the college to learn English.

The centre has now launched a petition objecting to the drastic cuts. Adults who have learned English at the centre plan to speak at Tuesday's council meeting in support of Councillor Kiley and the campaign.

Ella Antonyan, 29, who has come to Bristol from Azerbaijan and studies at the Beacon Centre, said: "I need to learn English, it's very important. When I learn enough I will look for a job. I have 10 years' experience as a hairdresser in my country and if I stay here I have to work, I can't just stay at home."

Keith Elliott, principal of City of Bristol College, said the Government's plans to reduce spending on individual tuition and support for adults had been formed before the recession and now needed a rethink so that the people most in need were not excluded.

"We need more joined up thinking," he said.