A NEW university in Swindon has inched closer with the signing of an agreement between the borough council and the University of the West of England.

And the new campus will be the first in the country designed for, with and by employers in the area.

Hopes of a higher education development in the town suffered a setback when the University of Bath withdrew.

But now a memorandum of understanding has paved the way for an institution that will focus on areas including advanced engineering, financial services, ICT, health and social care and the heritage industry.

Local businessman Rikki Hunt, chairman of the Swindon Strategic Economic Partnership, which led the negotiations, said: "There are more than 150 universities in the UK, so our intention is to create something distinctive that's not available elsewhere.

"We can't be certain yet about the exact nature of the university until we've carried out the detailed assessment and understand exactly what employers are prepared to support, although we've already had preliminary discussions."

The campus, catering for up to 3,000 students, is likely to be built in the centre of Swindon, somewhere north of the railway line.

Progress will be reviewed in March and in the meantime research is being conducted into courses, costs and organisation.