juche comes to wiltshire

After nuclear bunkers in Corsham, now we have Chippenham inviting North Korea to come and stay during the Olympics.

Pyongyang (population 3 million)

· Legendarily inaccessible, the North Korean capital has direct flights to and from Beijing and occasionally Russia

· Foreigners are not generally allowed to use public transport and face restrictions on interaction with the local population

· 50,000 members of the ruling elite live in a luxury compound in central Pyongyang while most of the city's population relies on food aid. In winter the temperature routinely falls to -13C

· Attractions include the Juche Tap, a tower lit at night which is the only constant source of light in the city

Chippenham (population 40,000)

· Sited on the river Avon, the market town was the site of a royal residence during the Middle Ages and appears in Domesday Book as a crown manor

· It is 4 miles south of the M4, giving easy access to Bristol, Swindon, south Wales and London. Once known as Little Bath because honey-coloured stone was used for its public buildings

· Lacock Abbey, close by, became Hogwarts school in the first two Harry Potter films. The town holds an annual festival in honour of rock 'n' roll singer Eddie Cochran, who died in 1960 after a car crash in Chippenham.

[I've actually been to the Eddie Cochran festival, as my brother's band played there one year. It's a very odd and macabre affair, though contains some nice quiffs].