THE former railway museum in Faringdon Road could be turned into a base for community groups for ethnic minorities and asylum seekers.

Tory councillor Peter Stoddart believes the historic building should be put to good use instead of lying dormant, waiting to fall into the same disrepair as the nearby Mechanics Institute.

And he says minority racial groups in the town have nowhere to base their activities or to meet.

There are around 140 asylum seekers and refugees living in Swindon. They come from Kosovo, Turkey and Somalia, with smaller numbers from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and various African countries.

Coun Stoddart's idea has been backed by the councillor representing the Faringdon Road area, Labour's David Nash.

And Martha Parry of the New Mechanics Preservation Trust, which has been campaigning for two years for the distinctive listed building to be used by community groups, has added her support.

The call comes nearly three months after the council decided to ask for expressions of interest from the market place to buy the 151-year-old building.

The council's cabinet said in April that it realised it needed to "fast-track" the process to prevent it from decaying, yet the council has not acted since that meeting.

Expressions of interest have not yet been sought and the building is facing a third winter empty.

The museum, which opened in 1962 and spent much of its life as a church, was closed at the end of 1999 to make way for the new Steam museum nearby. It has been empty ever since, costing the council £2,500 a year to maintain.

Coun Stoddart (Con, Abbey Meads) came up with his proposal after attending a community forum meeting at which the need for accommodating community groups was made clear.

He said: "There were a lot of people there who were asylum seekers from all sorts of countries and they didn't have anyway of setting up a group because they didn't have anywhere to meet.

"I thought to myself we've got the old railway museum that's not being used, which is central and perfect for the job. It would be a good venue for them, even if it was only a temporary thing."

He has asked acting education and community director, Sue Stockwell, to look into the possibility and report back to councillors.

Coun Nash (Lab, Central) said: "I would love to see it come back into public use again in some form or another."

Ms Parry, whose charity seeks to protect Swindon's heritage sites, is frustrated at the continued lack of progress with the building.

She said: "We have been asking for two years if we can be based there, along with six or seven other community groups, on a short-term lease. The council decided not to listen and chose to go to the market place, but that was three months ago and they haven't done it yet."