Sixteen year old Juan Requana from Spain could have gone to summer language schools in Bristol, Bath or Oxford. But he chose Swindon after checking out various web sites dedicated to the town.

"I had a choice of different towns before I came last year," said Juan. "The web sites for Swindon looked interesting and I discovered the attractions are very good when I visited them. The people are also very, very nice. I have learnt a lot of English."

He enjoyed his visit so much in 1999 that he returned for a second summer to stay with the Salmon family in Nine Elms.