Steve Connelly with the bannerSWINDON residents are being asked to put their weight behind the Olympic bid.

Banners are being put up across the town to support London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

None of the competitions will take place in Swindon but Steve Connolly, sports development manager at Swindon Council, believes residents here would benefit if London is picked as the host.

He said: "If London hosts the 2012 Olympics it will have a knock on effect on the whole country.

"It will raise the profile of sport and games and will hopefully increase the general public's participation in sports.

"If the bid is successful there will be a big campaign to push out the message about sports to schools, community groups and other organisations.

"More money will be spent on sporting activities and facilities.

"And that will benefit the people of Swindon.

"We don't just need the organisers of the games to be behind this bid we want the whole country to be behind it."

The banners have been created and funded by Sport England and will go up in Old Town, Rodbourne and at the Civic Offices in Euclid Street.

And at the Swindon Town match on Saturday spectators will be asked to sign a giant Olympic flag to show their support.

Steve believes that even though Swindon is over an hour's drive away from where the main action will be taking place the town will still benefit financially if the games take place in London.

"Some of the activities will take place on the fringes of London so we're not talking about an enormous distance.

"People will be coming to the West Country to see sights, such as Stone-henge, and Swindon is on the way so they may be passing through.

"And they will need somewhere to stay so might choose Swindon. There will be thousands and thousands of tourists visiting the country and Swindon is bound to benefit from that."

The last time that Britain hosted the Olympics was in 1948.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe, said: "The entire UK would benefit from the huge sporting, cultural, business, tourism and volunteering opportunities that come from hosting the games.

"We would have the chance to show the country, and ourselves at our best."

London faces stiff competition for the honour of hosting the Olympics for the first time since 1948.

Among other cities bidding are, front runner Paris, New York and Moscow.

The International Olympic Committee will make its decision later in the year.

Diana Milne