A FILM company that has been operating in the south of Swindon is looking to expand its capacity.

Sandstorm Films, based in Badbury has applied to the borough council to build an entirely new studio on its premises.

But to make sure that its in keeping with the company’s bucolic setting south of the town, the company wants to build its new facility in a barn.

The application to council planners says the studio has been looking for new accommodation for two years: “Moving film production outside London was seen as risky in 2009. However the site, as it stands now, has become too small for the business and it has been looking for over two years at a number of other sites. Through consultation it was advised the most suitable site with regard to infratsriuctuire was in fact the small disused paddock directly opposite the Sanstorm location.

The studio wanted to stay in the village having paid to install eight miles of cable fibre broadband and being the first investor in a wireless 4G network there.

If approved a single barn will be built on the paddock, with additional parking. The steel-framed building would be clad in metal and finished with wooden cladding and retain the same roof colour and material as the studio's existing barn.