THIS exclusive picture graphically illustrates the decline of Swindon's much beloved Mechanics' Institute.

It is the first interior shot for many years and highlights the huge task facing the building's new owners.

Mystery still surrounds their identity, a month after the Evening Advertiser revealed it had been sold.

Old Town property agents Alder King, who have been handling negotiations between the purchaser and previous owners Mountmead Limited, have promised to reveal who the owners are at the end of the month, when the purchase is finalised.

Hillingdon-based Quest Corporation Limited was reported to have bought the Mechanics' but Alder King's Peter Barefoot has denied this, saying he has not heard the firm mentioned in negotiations.

Last week, contractors started to clear piles of rubbish from inside the former Great Western Railway workers' community centre in Emlyn Square. One worker said he was working under instruction from Quest and supplied the Evening Advertiser with the firm's details.

The Evening Advertiser tracked down Quest director Mathew Singh, but he refused to comment on his company's involvement in the Institute, referring us to Alder King.

The clearance work has allowed passers-by a glimpse inside the jewel of Swindon's railway heritage.

Clearly visible was the grand entrance foyer and marble staircase with piles of rubbish in the reading room.

The sight of the crumbling ceiling and smashed walls was too much for Martha Parry, spokeswoman for the New Mechanics' Preservation Trust, which has been campaigning to bring the building back into community use.

Close to tears as she stood inside the reading room for the first time in seven years, she said: "It was heartbreaking to see how something this special has been left to rot.

"I was looking up at the ceiling in the reading room imagining what it was like in its heyday.

"I had to come out because I was welling up.

"Former railwaymen have told me what it was like to be in the place during its splendour.

"To see the building slip into the mess it is now is an incredible waste."

The new owners want to restore the building for a variety of uses, including part residential.

And it could become home to the town's new library.