Chris Moyles 'massive honour' to be Aberystwyth torchbearer

DJ Chris Moyles surprised cheering crowds and his own radio show team when he ran with the Olympic torch in Aberystwyth during its fourth day in Wales.

His appearance with the flame was kept so secret that even most of his colleagues on his Radio One breakfast programme, which was broadcast from the Ceredigion town, were in the dark.

He sneaked out of the studio and jumped on a motorbike to take his place with the torch.

Cheering crowds greeted his appearance when he arrived at the top of North Parade.

Dozens of well-wishers crowded round him taking photographs, and he told them he felt honoured to be running with the torch.

Chris Moyles was a surprise celebrity torchbearer in Aberystwyth

He ran the 300m leg up part of Penglais Hill before being whisked away on a motorbike to continue his radio show.

Moyles told BBC Wales it had been an amazing experience.

He said: "The hill is steeper than it looks but it's fine. It's just a massive honour."

He also drew a cheer from the crowd when he turned and joked: "It's much better here than Cardiff isn't it?"

Asked whether it was the furthest he had run for a while, he laughed and replied: "No, you cheeky sod!"

Moyles said he had been following the torch's route with interest.

"We've been watching torch cam which is the greatest thing in the world," he said.

"It's great to see everybody coming out at ridiculous times of the day."

Moyles explained that some of his radio team received something of a shock when he disappeared from the studio.

"I had not even told them I was doing it, I sneaked out," he said.

'Sneaked out'

"They had no idea. I've got to run back and do the rest of the show now!"

Chris Moyles Show producer Aled Haydn Jones, who is from Aberystwyth, said: "He only found out himself on Thursday or Friday.

"When we talked about it there were so many hurdles to jump.

"It was only last night it became concrete and we could make it work."