OXFORD Brookes University has announced it has purchased Swindon College's Ferndale Road site.

Last year the college announced plans to sell its campuses in Euclid Street and Regent Circus as well as Ferndale Road as it prepares for a £15 million move to a single campus at North Star.

Ferndale Road will be used by the university's School of Health and Social Care for its adult nursing programme, teaching nurses from across the West and forging close links with the new Great Western Hospital.

In September 1999 the school had 23 adult nursing students, but that figure has now risen to 126 supported by 14 lecturing and administration staff.

The Dean of Oxford Brookes' school of health and social care, June Girvin, said: "I am delighted that the school of health and social care now has its own premises to operate from in Swindon.

"We have been building very strong links in the area with NHS services and this means that we will have increased capacity for more education developments to meet the needs of NHS staff in Swindon and the surrounding areas."

The purchase means that Swindon now has two universities with a presence in the town.

The University of Bath in Swindon continues to run part-time courses for adults from its Oakfield Campus and has announced plans to build a 10,000 student undergraduate campus on land between the Great Western Hospital and Coate Water.

Oxford Brookes has been teaching at Ferndale Road since 1999, but it has not been revealed how much it paid for the site.

Work has already begun on the new £15.5 million campus for Swindon College at North Star, which will comprise the existing building plus three new blocks.

Planning permission has already been given for a 624-home high rise housing scheme on the college's Regent Circus site, and developers have already begun work on the Euclid Street site.

Elaine Strachan Hall, director of nursing at the Great Western Hospital, said the hospital would be working closely with Oxford Brookes' University.

She said: "We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with the universities.

"Student nurses who undertake their clinical practice at the GWH will now have their learning consolidated through the significant investment by Oxford Brookes in the new campus."