Zurich workers today welcomed the move to shut off the subway.

Dermot Hayden, 26, a team manager, said: "The subway is quite dangerous at night.

"It can be really dodgy and I worry about the safety of my team members.

"I use it occasionally for lunch and it's not the nicest of places.

"It's hardly a happy welcome to Swindon advert."

His colleague Sharon Roberts, 32, a customer service advisor, agreed.

She said: "I'd much prefer to have an overground pedestrian crossing than an underground one.

"I haven't been threatened under there but you hear stories.

"There's quite a lot of drunks who hang out there and ask for money and cigarettes."

Desktop technician Warren Colley, 34, said: "You get a lot of people squatting under there and it does seem a bit nasty. I think anyone would prefer something overground. It's safer to be more visible."

Other pedestrians using the subway agreed.

Leigh Simpson, a 26-year-old alcohol blender, of Graham Street, Swindon, said: "Generally I don't feel threatened under there but you never know who you might meet. It will be much better for lone women, especially at night."

And Jo Horsey, 19, a customer services operative, from Princes Street, said: "It's very dirty in the underpass. You always see used condoms and syringes. I'd much prefer the overpass."