Oxford Brookes University could expand into Swindon if Bath University abandons its plans for the town.

Brookes, which already has 200 students enrolled on its Swindon campus, would not rule out the move - but stressed it was early days.

The possibility of Brookes's expansion has arisen following news that Bath University might drop its proposals to set up a campus on Swindon's Green Belt at Coate Water. This would leave an opening which Oxford Brookes would be interested in pursuing.

Brookes spokesman David Penney said: "We do not have a large campus in Swindon, but it has been going quite well for three to four years.

"It is completely separate to Bath University so any decision by Bath to pull out of Swindon would not affect our presence.

"We were one of the original universities which had talks with Swindon Council many years ago about establishing a University of Wiltshire in Swindon, but it did not go ahead at that time.

"Swindon Council is still keen to have a strong university presence in the town. We have not heard what Bath is doing but, if it does decide to pull out, we would be interested.

"We know it is keen for a full service' university to operate in the town, offering a wide range of academic courses. At the moment, we are running courses to meet a specific local need."

Brookes runs an osteopathy course as well as an adult nursing diploma and a BSc degree in adult nursing from its Ferndale Road campus in Swindon.

There are 25 staff working there and about 90 per cent of students go on to work in the Wiltshire area.

Mr Penney added: "With Swindon being just 30 miles away from Oxford, it makes sense.

"We would not be moving Oxford students to Swindon."

The university senate at Bath was due to discuss the issue yesterday, but any decisions will have to go through the university's full council, which is not expected to meet until March 1.

The move has been prompted by difficulties with final negotiations over the amount of housing to go on Swindon's Coate Water site as well as fears that Government funding is moving away from paying for new campuses and more towards extending existing colleges.