A university could be the future for Swindon’s economy, councillors were told by the chairman of the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise partnership.

But Paddy Bradley added it would be more effective to get existing higher educational bodies to bring institutes and other parts of their business as external campuses rather than lobbying for, and setting up a new university.

Mr Bradley was giving an assessment of the Swindon and Wiltshire economy to members of the growing economy overview and scrutiny committee.

And he told the members that using higher and further education to develop a high-skills workforce in the area which would help the town develop 21st-century industries.

He said: The Institute of technology is important and also the UTC with a bit more support will be important in developing the skills Swindon needs.

“I’d also put energy into making the town attractive to universities to have something offsite here, such as those in the Carriageworks, rather than a new set-up that takes a lot of time.

“I think you get more bang for your buck like that.”

Mr Bradley preferred to the Royal Agricultural University and the iCAST institute set up in the Carriageworks by Bath and Oxford Universities. He said: “It brings a whole new vibe to the town, and people will think differently about it.”

Mr Bradley was clear that Swindon and the M$ corridor of northern Wiltshire were the economic engine of the wider county.

He said: “It’s the most productive zone in Swindon and Wiltshire; it has 323,000 residents and it produces £13billion of the total £21bn economic output of the whole county.

There are 42 per cent of the business in the county in Swindon and the M4 corridor and 39 per cent of the jobs.”

Labour councillor Sean Wilson asked how much of the wealth generated by Swindon stayed in the borough.

He said: ”The saying is Swindon is wealthy but it leaves at 5pm. Are most of the good, highly paid jobs in the town held by people who travel to work here but don’t live here?”

Mr Bradley said: “That’s been a perennial problem. Swindon is a net importer of jobs- more people are coming into the area with higher-paying jobs.

“You want to persuade new people to live and work in the area.”