YOUR SWINDON YOUR VERDICT: A UNIVERSITY is not the only new thing Swindonians want to see in the town centre.

Asked what would most improve Swindon town centre, 33 per cent of people wanted a better range of shops to add to what is already on offer.

Oliver O'Dell, town centre development manager, was not surprised by the result but said that the town did need more than just new shops.

"It is also about creating an interest in the town and getting people to stay in the town," he said.

"It is the things that go on in addition to the shops that keep people in the town for a longer period of time.

"It is not just about shopping. It is about where can I get a cup of coffee, where can I have lunch and can I go to the cinema?

"It is nothing that we are not addressing.

"The key question for me would be if we ask people to name the shops they want would we change their shopping habits?

"Or would they still go to Cribs Causeway or Oxford or wherever else?

"It is a bit like the argument of why don't we have a butcher and a baker? Well it is because people shop in Tesco."

The next favourite option for improving the town centre was building a new library, which 22 per cent of people backed.

Eleven per cent thought a university was the thing that would most improve the town centre, and the same number of people wanted to see a new caf-restaurant quarter developed.

Seven per cent opted for a cinema and five per cent wanted a new arts centre.

Several people wanted to see all the options developed while other answers given included re-opening the canal, building a new concert venue, reducing the number of bars, making the centre cleaner and bulldozing the whole lot and starting again.