A £500,000 road bridge has opened the way for canal life to return to Swindon.

The first new road crossing of the Wilts and Berks Canal for 200 years was opened by Swindon Mayor David Cox.

Paid for by the Northern Sector Development Company, it runs underneath Purton Road, next to its junction with the new northern orbital road.

The bridge removes the main obstacle for the canal. Elsewhere on its proposed route through West Swindon, at Great Western Way and Wootton Bassett Road, it will go under existing bridges.

The Wilts and Berks Canal Trust is now hopeful developers will help fund the restoration of the canal itself as the northern expansion of Swindon continues.

Swindon branch chairman, Henry Smith, said: "We are delighted that this crossing has been built. So much now depends on funding but we hope the restoration of the rest of the canal will now be sooner rather than later."

The trust is aiming to restore all 52 miles of the canal from Melksham to Abingdon. Ten miles of its route runs through Swindon borough.

So far only two stretches in Swindon have been restored one from the bottom of Kingshill Road and one from Elborough Bridge, on Purton Road.