A DISUSED landmark in Swindon is to be brought back to life with the creation of 100 jobs.

The former EMI building in Penny Lane is set to become Swindon's first car supermarket after being disused for almost five years.

The giant white building, which was built as a facility for making CDs, will soon be filled with cars after being bought by new owners, car showroom firm Camden Ventures. It is bringing its brand - The Car Shop - to sell many different models of second-hand vehicles.

Former Swindon councillor and mayor David Cox was one of the workers who was made redundant from the EMI factory.

He said: "It's great news that after so long it's finally going to be reused. It's a real architectural landmark in the town, a fantastic looking, modern building. I welcome it very much." Camden Ventures is the largest private motor dealership in the country and owns a number of franchises, including the Allen Ford dealership at the Spectrum building in West Swindon.

The company owns a number of other car showrooms across the country, including a chain of Renault dealerships in the Home Counties.

Neville Rowles, HR manager for The Car Shop, said: "We trade on best price, best choice and best quality.

"We already have outlets in Northampton, Manchester and Cardiff and have an average of somewhere between 800 and 1,000 cars at each site."

EMI removed most of its CD pressing machinery when it left the premises in 2002, but Mr Rowles said that some alterations would still be needed.

The second-hand car showroom hopes to be up and running in the spring.

The new firm hopes to bring about 100 jobs to the town and will also contract out work to local car bodywork companies.

"We will be bringing a couple of people with us for senior positions, and hiring local Swindon people," said Mr Rowles.

"Once fully staffed, we'll be running at about 100 employees at the Swindon site, which will include technical, sales and accounts positions."

The site went on the market with a £6.5m price tag. It is the latest multi-million pound deal to be struck as Swindon's profile as the powerhouse of the south west continues to grow.

Jeremy Sutton, of land agents King Sturge, said: "It is very encouraging to see this high profile landmark building being brought back into use.

"Since 2002 we have been marketing the property and received interest from a variety of different users.

"The property had been under offer twice - once for an industrial process and the other for use as a Makro Cash and Carry, but on each occasion the purchasers pulled out."

Mr Sutton said that Camden has been interested in the building for some time, but only recent changes in planning law, which allow car showrooms to be considered for employment use, have encouraged the company to agree a purchase price and submit a change of use planning application.