Plans to create a world class super-university in London through the merger of two leading colleges were abandoned yesterday in the wake of a staff revolt.
Academics at University College London feared that the proposed alliance with Imperial College would be a de facto takeover under the leadership of Sir Richard Sykes, Imperial's provost.
The merger would have created a college of 18,000 students and 6,000 staff, and a combined research income in excess of £400m a year, more than Oxford and Cambridge combined.
Sir Richard and Sir Derek Roberts, acting provost of UCL, called it off in advance of a meeting of UCL's academic board on Thursday, which was to debate a motion from teaching staff condemning the plan.
David Conway, a postgraduate student who ran a "Save UCL" website attacking the merger and harrying the two vice-chancellors, said he was delighted.
"There is no doubt Sir Derek Roberts exceeded his remit in staking everything on this merger. There was no plan B," he said. "In the end he has damaged the university.
"He launched everybody down this one-way street with no preparation. He has paid the penalty of hubris."
Sir Derek said last night: "Sir Richard Sykes and I were increasingly conscious that there was a strong body of opinion that was 'anti' for various reasons, some good, some bad, and there was not a sufficient strength of people who were strong advocates. It just seemed sensible to stop this damaging process that was going on."
Sir Richard, who in his previous career as chairman of drug company Glaxo pushed through a merger with SmithKline Beecham, would have led the new institution.
He infuriated students by drawing up detailed plans for Imperial to charge undergraduates up to £10,500 a year if the government decided to remove the cap on tuition fees. The Commons science select committee planned to interview the two institutions' heads to ask them to justify their proposals.
And Graham Zellick, vice-chancellor of the University of London, of which the two colleges are independent, constituent bodies, had also voiced concerns.
UCL will now restart its search for a permanent successor to Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, who was forced out in a palace coup by leading academics this summer. UCL said the next provost might revive the merger proposal.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the Association of University Teachers, welcomed yesterday's announcement: "We are very glad that common sense has prevailed and that this ill-thought-out merger has been called off.
"Clearly, the concerns that we raised right at the start of this process - that, among other things, staff would be alienated if they didn't feel properly consulted - have proved to be insurmountable."
The government will be disappointed at the failure of the Sykes-Roberts plan. It has urged universities to merge into larger, stronger institutions, and is especially keen to ensure Britain retains at least a handful of world-renowned centres.
In a statement to staff yesterday a UCL spokesman said: "UCL and Imperial College have now completed an intense period of deliberation since it was first announced that the two colleges were exploring the desirability and feasibility of merger between the two institutions.
The statement went on: "A number of areas for future collaboration have been identified, but the overall conclusion is that the best interests of the two institutions are not served by a formal merger.
"UCL is now recommencing its search for a new provost from October 2003.
"Once in post the new provost and the rector of Imperial College may well continue discussions on developing the opportunities for collaboration identified in the last five weeks."
Imperial issued a similar, shorter statement.