A 60-year page in Wroughton's history book was turned as bulldozers moved in on the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The demolition marked the end of a long campaign by local residents to save the old RAF landmark, which opened in 1941.

In its time the hospital was used as a clearing-house for World War II casualties from all over Europe, took in wounded soldiers from the Falklands War and also treated casualties from the first Gulf War.

In the last few months the site had been used for SAS and Navy Seals training exercises.

Swindon Council planning bosses decided the hospital's fate at the beginning of the month when they approved to transform the site.

London developer Dukeminster first bought the 65-acre site in 2000, five years after the RAF hospital shut following Government defence cutbacks.

Dukeminster then sold the land to current owners David Wilson Homes Ltd and Hayley Confer-ence Centres.

The new development will include 149 houses, 30 flats, a village hall, a play area, two single and two two-storey office blocks and a conference centre including 120 bedrooms and four conference rooms

The development will be built from scratch with the final cost running to several million pounds. It is expected to create several hundred more jobs.

But yesterday's bulldozing will have been a terrible sight for thousands of people who wanted to save the hospital.

A local campaign to re-open the hospital, headed by the late Coun Jim Masters, a former Swindon mayor, gathered momentum in the years following the closure.

It culminated in a 50,000-name petition, which was handed into the Government. But despite the efforts of the Wroughton Action Group, Princess Alexandra was doomed.

But Wroughton Parish Council chair, Ann Richards, now believes the development will be beneficial to the area.

"It will bring jobs to the area and the planned houses will mean the new residents won't have to commute to work," she said.

"We are very pleased that the development is going to be on a brownfield site and there are also plans to enhance the local transport system to and from Swindon.

"We are slightly anxious about possible traffic repercussions and are hoping more main routes in Wroughton are used rather than smaller roads like Prior's Hill."

aemery@newswilts.co.uk