A postman who said a pervert stole his limelight during the Olympic torch relay has been given a second chance to shine.

Ivor Groves, 54, thought he was on the verge of fulfilling a childhood ambition when he made the final list of nominees to be a torchbearer last year, but his dreams were shattered when he received a letter saying he had not been successful.

More than a year later - as Mr Groves was coming to terms with the disappointment - he made the devastating discovery that a man who was chosen instead of him had been convicted of sexually abusing children.

Retired Aldington butcher Graham Cooper, 69, was jailed for three years at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday for four sex attacks that took place in the 1980s.

Mr Groves, of Sandyhurst Lane, Eastwell, was nominated for the honour by Sandyhurst Lane Residents' Association after delivering their mail for 29 years.

He said: "I have wanted to be a torchbearer since childhood but sadly I was overlooked.

"You can imagine my dismay upon reading that the person who did represent my local community has been revealed as a sex offender. It was a blow knowing that I deserved a chance like many other people who were also rejected.

"I felt my chance had gone. I wasn't angry - just disappointed. It seems inappropriate that someone like that carried the torch, but there's no way the organising committee could have known."

However, Mr Groves' cloud could have a silver lining in the form of Ashford Borough Council's deputy leader Cllr Michael Claughton - who has nominated the postie to take part in the Queen's Baton Relay for next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to make up for his letdown.

Cllr Claughton, who has known Mr Groves for several years and shares a passion for cricket with him, said: "Ivor is a great sporting man and has done great service to his community.

"He is very community-orientated. When he was nominated to carry the Olympic torch he had great community support.

"He's a thoroughly nice person and a very patriotic man who would be proud to represent his country doing something like this. I can't think of a better person to carry the Queen's Baton than Ivor Groves."

Mr Groves did not apply for Olympic tickets in 2012 as he felt the events might have clashed with his work, but he did travel to London to watch the Olympic marathon.

His love for all things Olympic began as a nine-year-old boy watching the Olympic Games in Mexico on TV.

His own sporting career started when he represented Ashford North School at athletics and he has now run 15 marathons, including eight London marathons.

He was a member of the Southern Counties Veterans team that won the British Veterans Athletics Championships in 2008 and he has won numerous awards for sport and charity work including the Daily Mail's Golden Jubilee Unsung Heroes of the Community Merit Award in 2002.

He is also a qualified football referee and a keen bowls player.

A young Mr Groves carried the Queen's Baton in the run up to the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh when he travelled to Hertfordshire and ran with school children from St Albans.

He added: "This has just made me more determined to go for the Queen's Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games."

Cooper was told by Judge Adele Williams: "The victim was quite rightly incensed when she heard you had been chosen to be a torchbearer.

"Child sex abuse is a considerable evil and those who engage in it can expect nothing but imprisonment.

"What you did had long lasting effects on your victim."