WOOTTON Bassett school pupils were going about their business as usual this week blissfully unaware that one of them will soon be responsible for a massive change in the town.

Plans for the redevelopment of the former St Ivel site once the biggest employer in the town are still on the drawing board but now the owners are looking to local schoolchildren for inspiration as to what the site should be called.

KingsOak South West managing director Simon Mantell said: "A date has not yet been set but we will soon be launching a competition for local school children to come up with a name for the future development."

And not only will the lucky winner be renaming the 27-acre site but they'll also get to help demolish the factory chimney ready for construction work to begin.

Initial demolition work began in March with KingsOak planning to hold an official demolition day sometime during May. The day will centre around what promises to be a spectacular felling of the central steel-clad chimney.

As well as the competition winner, KingsOak will be inviting a local person who worked at the site to help deal the deadly blow to the chimney. Demolition work is expected to take four months.

KingsOak bought the site for £19 million in August last year. Mr Mantell said it was aiming to submit a planning application for the proposed development by early June.

Included within the development brief was the allocation of housing as well as the possible development of the Old Beaufort brewery into an arts centre.

Local residents have formed the Arts Centre Group. Plans for the arts centre include a tiered theatre/cinema with integrated amphitheatre, artists' studios, crafts, a kiln, caf/bistro, galleries, meeting rooms and sound studio.