A merchant sailor from Trowbridge will have the privilege of being a flag-raiser at this summer’s Olympics.

Leading Hand Matt Burton, 31, pictured, will be based at one of the Olympic venues as part of a Royal Navy team raising the flags of podium-placed athletes.

He will also take part in the opening and closing events.

Mr Burton has lived in Trowbridge for two years with fiancee Genna Hanks and has represented Britain at judo in the 1990s. He is senior coach at Bath Judo Qwai Club and teaches judo on board his ship.

He is based on Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Victoria and is deployed in the Indian Ocean in support of Royal Navy operations.

He was chosen through a Ministry of Defence nomination process highlighting those with sporting or operational achieve-ments, or those involved in communities.

He said: “Being chosen to be part of the Olympics will add to one of the many fantastic experiences that this job continues to offer.”

Joining the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 2006 from the civil service, his varied career has taken him all over the world. He has served on five RFA vessels, taking him from the South China Seas to the Caribbean.

His various jobs have meant he has also been awarded medals for operations off the coast of Iraq and for supporting counter-piracy activity in the Indian Ocean.