Sir – It’s ironic, isn’t it? Most of what we hear about Oxford University is that it is an elitist institution.

Now it has initiated the distinctly anti-elitist move of establishing the Swindon Bodleian — in a town which, as far as I know, has no university (though no doubt the Government will establish one before long). And what happens? The smug voices that opposed the building of the repository in Osney (“Oh, no, it’s on a floodplain”, “Oh, no, we won’t be able to see the Dreaming Spires from Seacourt Tower”) are raised in shrill protest. I am very proud that my alma mater is doing its bit to establish Swindon as a Centre of Academic Excellence.

Nigel Clarke, Oxford