A medical centre which has been awaited for 40 years is finally being built in Lawn.

Ward councillor Mike Bawden (Con) claims residents have wanted a GP surgery since the Lawn estate was built in the early 1960s.

He said: "This is fantastic news for the local community and not before time. "

And fellow ward coun Wendy Johnson (Lib Dem) shared his enthusiasm.

The £650,000 medical practice is being built on land next to the community centre on Guildford Avenue, formerly the Gamekeeper pub.

The Victoria House Surgery, on Victoria Hill in Old Town, will be moving into the premises, which are being built by a Hampshire-based developer, MedCentres Ltd.

The new surgery is expected to include four doctors' consulting rooms, a treatment room for two nurses and a minor operations room.

Conforming to strict NHS guidelines, it will be a two-storey brick structure with a tiled roof.

Construction is being funded by MedCentres Ltd, which will then lease the surgery back to the GPs who use it.

Swindon Council's planning committee has approved the health centre despite concerns about limited parking.

But councillors on the planning committee decided the benefits of the centre outweighed the potential parking difficulties.

However, both councillors Bawden and Johnson thought that with a public car park adjacent to the site, currently used by the community centre and by customers of the local shops, there should not be too many problems .