TWO international students visited Somerset for the first time as part of their business degrees.

Chloe Main, 21, from Taunton’s twin town Lisieux, and Timothy Fiore, 18, from Switzerland, have been working at the Taunton Visitor Centre during their visit.

Miss Main arrived on July 4 and Mr Fiore arrived on August 8.

During their time, they both worked in the centre monitoring the phones and emails, building the centre’s social media platform and they worked alongside the Museum of Somerset.

Miss Main said: “The flower show has been a highlight of my visit so far, it is such a big event for a small town. I wish we could have a similar event in Lisieux.”

Mr Fiore said: “I have really enjoyed getting out of the office and seeing the town. The pirates exhibition at the museum has been my favourite, it was very interesting.”

The pair have also helped in making the Taunton Visitors Centre more ‘internationally friendly’ as they have both translated the website homepage into different languages, Miss Main translated the site into French and Timothy translated the site into Italian.

The centre regularly offers placements to international students to increase inter-cultural connections.

Andrew Hopkins, marketing and visitor centre manager, said: “We are delighted to welcome students like Chloe and Tim to Taunton Visitor Centre. “They make a very valuable contribution to our work and great additions to our team.

“The international partnerships we are building up are another great way of helping us to promote Taunton.”

Miss Main decided to come to Taunton after discovering the two towns were twinned. She undertook the apprenticeship as part of her business degree at EGC Basse Normandie. She hopes to go on to do a masters degree.

She said: “I am really surprised with myself, I didn’t think I would be able to stay away from my family for so long.”

Mr Fiore hopes to travel more in the future, but must first complete his national service when he returns to Switzerland.

The two documented their time in Taunton on Twitter using #chloesdiary and #timsdiary.

Mr Fiore added: “I had never taken so many photographs in my lifetime than I have in my few weeks in Taunton.”