A POPULAR shop in Swindon's town centre will be moving to a new home next month.

Waterstones has been a fixture of the Brunel Shopping Centre for many years, with its well-stocked shelves spread across two floors connected by a twisting spiral staircase.

Soon, the sizeable space will be empty as staff - and the thousands of books they sell - will be set up inside a vacant single-floor unit on Canal Walk.

The booksellers are excited about the move but now have the unenviable job of packing everything up and transferring it to the new home of the retail chain's Swindon branch.

A spokesman said: "We are really excited to be joining F. Hinds the Jewellers and the market, just around the corner in Canal Walk, helping to regenerate Swindon town centre."

More book signings are "very much on the agenda" once the move is complete.

Literature lovers who want to wander around the old Brunel store before it closes can pop in before November 7.

Waterstones Swindon will then reopen on Canal Walk later that month at a date to be confirmed.

A notice advising shoppers of the big move quotes Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin: "Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition."