DOUBLE Olympic champion and 12 time world record holder Lord Coe strapped on the pads for a visit to Somerset County Cricket Ground in Taunton today.

Lord Coe, chair of the London organising committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, visited the town as part of a whirlwind visit to the South-West to see work being undertaken in the build up to the games.

He had a tour of the grounds and met aspiring Olympians before taking to the pitch to bat.

He said: “Somerset County Cricket Ground is going to be a training ground for the 2012 Olympics and we want teams with an interest in archery to base themselves here.

“There’s a lot happening in the South-West and a lot of things I know probably wouldn’t be happening if we weren’t having the games here.

“The most impressive part about that are the partnerships being created around the games.

“Team Somerset 500 Club where local people are raising £500 over three years - looking to raise a million in total - to help young people with real sporting ability to get to the next level.

“All these things are very exciting.”

He added: “I want young people to be engaged in the Olympics, be excited by them not necessarily in sport but in education, in drama, cultural engagement.

“I want local businesses to benefit, I want local people to feel they can be volunteers and most of all I want more young people getting involved in exciting things they might not have thought of had the games not been coming to this country.”