Members of the public and the press will be excluded from Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet meeting when it discusses buying property in Park South tonight.

The item is exempt on grounds of commercial confidentiality, and the agenda on the council’s website is blank for that item, but it is likely that it relates to the possible purchase of Cavendish Square, or parts of it.

The council sold the square some years ago to private developers that wanted to spruce it up.

But the car park is in poor shape and prone to flooding and the shopping parade is tired, and has never been given the promised roof.

Residents and businesses have been lobbying and campaigning to get the council to take back control of the square, and a few weeks ago the Conservative MP for South Swindon Robert Buckland sent a letter to local constituents saying the administration at Euclid Street was going to buy the land.

Leader of the Conservative-run authority David Renard confirmed it was interested in buying the square and was in talks with the owner Lytton Road Ltd.

The cabinet will discuss the budget position and changes to polling stations.