Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn has warned London Metropolitan University’s very existence is under threat after it was banned from teaching non-EU students.

The Labour MP said the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has dealt a huge blow to the cash-strapped university, which is already weighed down by a �35million fine handed to it in 2009 by the Higher Education Funding Council, for misrepresenting student numbers.

And he said the move will have a “catastrophic” effect on the roughly 2,600 international students who now face deportation within 60 days.

The UKBA has revoked London Met’s “Highly Trusted Status”, meaning the university, which has a major campus in Holloway Road, Holloway, can no longer approve visas for overseas students. Some students today showed their anger by protesting outside Downing Street.

Mr Corbyn, who has written to Home Secretary Theresa May urging her to review the decision, said: “The decision is devastating. The effect on the existing 2,600 overseas students will be equally catastrophic.

“As MP for the area where many of the university sites are located I am appalled at the decision made by UKBA and backed up by Minister Damien Green.

“If this decision is not changed rapidly, the implications are huge. Firstly the very existence of LMU will be called into question as a major part of its income relies on overseas students. It also severely damages the reputation of British universities all over the world.

“The staff, teaching and non teaching, work extremely hard at LMU and are appalled at the new threat to their institution and their jobs; I share their horror and am concerned at the effect on the next generation of students and the local community.

“I have today written to the Home Secretary, once more requesting she review this disastrous decision.”