SWINDON'S former Railway Museum is set for a new role in the community.

For 90 years the building was a Wesleyan Methodist Church, but in recent years it has been home to the Community Cross-roads, run by the New Mechanics' Institution Preservation Trust.

Now they will have to make way for a new community advice centre.

The proposed Legal Advice and Information Centre would bring a number of agencies under one roof, including the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Wiltshire Law Centre, the Safer Swindon Shop, the Swindon Racial Equality Council and Age Concern.

Coun Jemima Milton, cabinet member for Environment and Property, said: "This proposal will secure a long-term, sustainable future for this important building."

But Martha Parry, co-ordinator of the trust, said: "I feel gutted about this. We've worked with hundreds of people here and they will all be bitterly disappointed.

She is concerned that the groups using the centre will not find an alternative home. The scheme is subject to approval at the council's scrutiny committee on Monday evening.