AUTHOR Martin Coleman will be reading his take on the Easter story in front of 20,000 people in Trafalgar Square tomorrow.

Grandfather Martin, 52, who lives in Church Street, Royal Wootton Bassett, is taking part in the annual The Passion of Jesus event and will be shown on a big screen reading the tale.

He has given his slant to the traditional story, for the Bible Society, based in Stonehill Green, as part of a Bible Bedtime free iPhone app which goes live today.

Along with the Easter story, Martin, who has self-published three children’s books, worked on the Prodigal Son, the tale of Adam and Eve, and Jonah and the Whale for the project.

He said: “It is quite surreal how it came about. I went to read my new book to a child minder’s group and got put in touch with Rachel Rounds, Bible Society’s head of media, who was looking for a writer for the app.

"It is a huge honour to be part of the project and a little strange as I’m not a believer, but the society really embraced that fact.

“I recorded my piece reading the Easter story last week and I’ll be travelling to London to be part of the Trafalgar Square audience, which I’m really excited about. I’m sure it will be quite the buzz to be there.”

The Passion of Jesus is a 90-minute play showing the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus and will feature around 100 cast members.

The app, currently only available on iPhones and iPads, is supporting the Bible Society’s Pass it On campaign with the group looking to get children of all faiths connected with some of the Bible’s well-known stories.

Rachel said: “We were looking for someone to write the stories for the app and we were really impressed by Martin’s work.

“If the app takes off we’d certainly consider doing some more of the stories.”

Martin, who is a presenter on Fantasy Radio, based in Devizes, said that being involved with the project was one of the greatest experiences of his life.

He said: “It has been a real honour and I’d certainly be interested in doing more if the society want me to.”

The Bible Bedtime app is available from iTunes and for more information about Martin’s work visit www.martincolemanbooks.co.uk