YOUNG ventriloquist, Kieran Powell, is preparing to perform for thousands of athletes at the Olympic games.

The 16-year-old from Nailsworth will perform on the streets of the Olympic village, home to more that 18,000 athletes and officials, on the day of the closing ceremony.

He said: "It is like nothing I have ever done before in my life. It is very exciting.

"I think it will be a fantastic atmosphere that day because a lot of the athletes will have finished so they can relax and enjoy themselves.

"I have a lot of experience improvising but this is going to be very interesting. I will go with the flow with whatever the audience are feeling and will do a lot of talking to the crowd.

"There is every chance I could talk to the fastest man on the planet, which would be amazing."

When Kieran originally applied for the entertainer's role, he was told he could not be accepted because he was under-18.

But organisers wrote back to him and said they liked his act so much they would make an exception.

Thousands of acts applied for street entertaining roles and acts have been chosen to perform every day at various locations in the village throughout the games.

Kieran won this year's Undiscovered Youth Talent Contest, organised by The Door Youth Project, and will perform at Lark in the Park on Saturday morning.

The former Wycliffe College pupil will attend Cirencester College in September.