A RETIRED police officer who lives just down the road from the Honda plant says that the company has been “a good neighbour”.

Paul Lynch added: “I feel sorry for all the people who will be losing their jobs – overall, it’s affecting around 30,000 people in Swindon.

“I hope they all find a good replacement jobs in the Swindon area because it’s been a good source of revenue for the community.

“I’ve been living here for 25 years and I love it. Even though the road has become much busier and I won’t miss the smell or the noise of the lorries, on the whole Honda has been good to us. They always kept us informed of anything they were changing or adding, I’ve no complaints.

“I know people who work there and it’s hard to accept that it will go just like that. I imagine there will be plans for an industrial estate and I hope there is a lot of investment in creating jobs because they are sorely needed.

“There needs to be something major and probably manufacturing-related there to cover such a massive site.”