WOOTTON BASSETT mayor Peter Roberts finished his mayoral year in ludicrous style by falling fully dressed into a swimming pool.

The 'game for a laugh mayor' was thrown into the pool at Eddy Shah's Wiltshire Golf and Country Club to mark its official opening.

The luxury golf and leisure club has been being revamped since 2001, and has finally opened its many luxury facilities, which include a gym, swimming pool, sauna, whirlpool bath and golf course.

Mr Roberts said: "After the year I have had this seems to be one of my saner exploits, but on a serious note I am delighted to see this club open.

"Wootton Bassett has suffered some setbacks recently, so this will provide a real boost to the town.

"This kind of facility is long, long overdue, and I'm sure will be very welcome to everyone in Wootton Bassett."

To Mr Shah, the opening is the completion of a dream that started almost ten years ago when he first saw the club.

He said: "My wife is from this part of the world and I have fallen in love with Wiltshire.

"I first wanted this club in 1995, but I just missed out on buying it, so when I was able to buy it in 2001 it was a dream come true.

"I think it will be a great facility for the town, and of course people staying in the hotel will want to go out and that will bring valuable business to Wootton Bassett. I am particularly glad to hear that it will provide a boost for the town at what has been a difficult time, and I would like to thank the local councillors for all the support they have given to the project."

Tycoon Mr Shah, who founded the Today newspaper in 1983, diversified into the leisure industry in 1995 and now owns Messenger Leisure Group, which has golf clubs in East Anglia and Essex.

He and his wife Jennifer, who comes from Salisbury, are now planning to move to Wiltshire permanently and look for more business opportunities in the area.

Although the golf club has been open throughout, building work to the tune of £3 million has been going on for the last two years to build the new hotel, and upgrade the leisure facilities by adding features like the whirlpool bath and steam room.

There has also been £150,000 spent on upgrading the golf course, enlarging the greens and landscaping the whole course.

Club president Ted Querzani said: "There has been some disruption over the last few years, but it has been kept to a minimum and the staff have worked extremely hard to make the club as smooth running as possible.

"This opening is a dream come true for the members, who have been waiting a long time for this day."

Membership fees are £39.75 a month, or non-members can pay £10 for a day pass which allows them full use of the gym, swimming pool and other leisure facilities.

Mr Shah said: "We are not creating an exclusive club, we believe in affordable lifestyle.

"Membership costs might go up by seven or ten per cent, but we won't be looking to hammer existing members.

"We want to pick up 2,000 leisure members, and we don't have a history of pushing prices up."