South Swindon MP Robert Buckland has hailed the Covid-19 vaccine deal as a 'great moment for our town'. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday that doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will be made in Swindon.

The jab will be produced at the Thermo Fisher Scientific site on Kingfisher Drive and production is expected to start in 2022.

The deal will create 200 new jobs and secure £70 million of investment for Swindon.

Buckland told Radio Wiltshire: "We're going to be at the heart of vaccine production in Britain for the benefit of our country but also for the benefit of the world as well.

"I think it's a great moment for our town.

"We've got momentum here in Swindon. We're becoming more and more known as a life sciences economy.

"I think this big initiative is a real feather in our cap showing the importance of Swindon to the national life sciences economy and indeed internationally as well."

The PM praised the deal in his speech to the Conservative Party Conference yesterday, and said it would "make the country an even more attractive destination" for "direct foreign investment". 

Leader of Swindon Borough Council David Renard said: "We like to keep our businesses here, especially the very successful ones, and help them to grow."