TRANSPORT services may be tested to their limits with the sheer numbers of people coming into Swindon town centre to polish off their Christmas shopping.

Swindon Council plans to increase the numbers of parking officers in the town, and will attempt to co-ordinate the pressures on traffic and parking.

A spokesman for Swindon Council said: “We will be drafting in extra staff for the days running up to Christmas. We will also be utilising the electronic signs on the main routes into the town to advise motorists of any car parks that are full.

“We are also opening the Brunel North car park an hour earlier than usual at 7am on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.”

Thamesdown Transport plans to run services as usual on the run up to Christmas, but will be putting on services on Boxing Day for the festive lull.

Paul Jenkins, MD of Thamesdown Transport, said: “Many people recognise the benefit of using the bus at Christmas time in order to avoid traffic jams and having difficulty parking when going shopping, and as a result this is our busiest time of year. We will also be running Boxing Day buses again this year. These services were launched last year and thanks to a positive response from passengers, we’ll be running them again.”