A PAIR of young Dorchester siblings are thrilled to have been chosen as two of the county’s Olympic torchbearers.

Annie and Ben Macklin, of Weatherbury Way, will both be making historic 300-metre runs this summer after being chosen to carry the Olympic torch through the county town on Thursday, July 12.

Ben, 12, a pupil at St Osmund’s Middle School, said: “I’m looking forward to it so much – it’s so big, I can’t really get my head around it.

“I’m going to be one of 8,000 people and I’ll probably never get to do it again in my life.

“I wasn’t expecting to get chosen because there’s so many other people who could have done it.

“I’ve always done loads of sport – football, fencing, archery, cricket and rugby – and I’ve competed at county level.”

Budding marine biologist Annie, aged 15, is studying for her GCSEs at Thomas Hardye School.

She said: “I’ve always been interested in the sea and I’m really into marine biology and conservation, hopefully I will be able to turn it into a career one day.

“I’m a marine warden with the Dorset Wildlife Trust and I’m also a Brownie Guide young leader.

“Recently I ran an evening combining the two with a whale and dolphin diploma for the girls.”

She added: “It’s amazing that Ben and I have both been picked – I’m really excited, we’ve got family coming from all over so it should be a really fun day.”

Proud mum Teresa Macklin said: “It’s bizarre that they’ve both been accepted, they applied separately Ben through his sports and Annie through her community volunteering. We heard they had both been successful on the same day – it was very exciting.

“It’s such a great opportunity, they’re really looking forward to it.”

She added: “I’m so proud of them both, we’re all looking forward to the day.”