THE council's new chief executive does not deserve the pay package he or she will get, according to Adver readers.

Whoever replaces the outgoing chief executive Sir Mike Pitt can expect to earn least £195,000 a year and a Swindon Card.

But 82 per cent of readers who voted in a phone and internet poll felt that amount was unjustified.

Applications close on June 5 with initial interviews starting on June 12. Sir Mike has agreed to stay on until his replacement was appointed. And readers are divided over First Great Western's 30-second door locking policy.

The news comes after Ann Widdecombe was refused entry onto a train following her recent appearance at the Swindon Festival of Literature.

The Tory MP for Maidstone and the Weald in Kent visited the Arts Centre in Devizes Road to talk about her novel Father Figure.

But after dashing to Swindon station to catch her train home, the former Home Office minister was dismayed to find she was not allowed on board, despite the fact she arrived prior to its departure time.

Swindon-based First Great Western said punctuality was the reason behind its 30-second door locking policy and 58 per cent of readers who responded to a phone and internet poll agreed it was the right thing to do.

Forty-two per cent backed the politician who complained: "It would have taken no more than a couple of seconds to board the train but all my protests were futile."