SWINDON may be at loggerheads with Reading as it battles for city status, but it is happy to borrow ideas from the Berkshire town to help its redevelopment plans.

A delegation of 12 council officers made the trip along the M4 to talk to their Reading counterparts about the work that has been done in its town centre.

It hopes to copy ideas to make Swindon a better place to visit and live.

The co-operation between the towns is a far cry from an often-bitter row that has developed as both cities vie to become a city.

The controversy made national headlines when Reading West MP Martin Salter declared he felt sorry for people living in Swindon. The Labour politician was later forced to apologise, but has again restated his belief that Reading will beat Swindon and other front-runner Guildford to city status.

The Swindon officers, who are currently working towards the 30 Year Vision to revitalise the town, learned how Reading had been developed in recent years.

They visited the Oracle Shopping Centre, which has been hugely successful since opening in September 1999. And they toured Reading town centre, which has been redeveloped with projects like a £5.3 million refurbishment of the Town Hall and museum with new conference facilities, concert hall and museum.

One of the Swindon officers making the trip was Celia Yeoman, the council's Artscape manager.

She said: "The Reading council officers showed us around and were very informative and helpful. I know the two towns are rivals for city status but that never came up and they were most helpful and supportive.

"They told us what schemes and initiatives had worked well and what others had not done so well."

Celia is responsible for delivering Swindon's 'percent for art policy' under which some of the capital costs of development schemes is allocated to pay for art forms to be included.

She had heard about the Oracle Shopping Centre and the fact that a big National Lottery grant had been given to the private developers of the scheme. "This is the first time this has been done and makes it a unique scheme," she said. "I am now going to research the project more to see whether this grant to a private developer was a one off and if it might be worth considering for Swindon's central area."

Claire Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Reading Council, said: "We were delighted to act as hosts to the Swindon council officers.

"Even though there has been some talk about the two towns being rivals for city status this did not come and the day was a big success."

The Lord Chancellor's Office will announce a new city each for England, Scotland and Wales next year to coincide with the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Guildford has been put as 7/2 favourite for England, with Reading second favourite at 5-1 and Swindon third at 8/1.