The fastest blind man on the planet whizzed in to two schools to speak to pupils about his life as an ex-serviceman and about his ability.

Billy Baxter, who broke two land speed records in August this year, is an ex-staff sergeant in the Royal Horse Artillery who was blinded in Bosnia in 1997.

As part of a national education project run by St Dunstan's, a charity providing rehabilitation and lifelong care for blind ex-servicemen and women, Mr Baxter spent half a day each at Thornton Grammar School and Clayton Village Primary School.

"I hope the land speed records inspire youngsters," he said.

"I told them that if they have a dream or ambition, they can achieve anything if they put their heart and soul into it. That includes education as well as their own personal goals."

The 39-year-old ex-serviceman spoke to pupils at Thornton Grammar about his experiences of 20 years as a front-line soldier with year 10 and 11 pupils who are studying conflict in the 20th century as part of the national curriculum.

He said: "I spoke to them about how conflict affects individuals like myself and how we can rebuild our lives. More than anything I would like to motivate students into doing something constructive with their lives and make them aware of how they can overcome issues."

Youngsters at Clayton Village Primary heard about some of Mr Baxter's survival secrets.

"We blindfolded the students and got them to do different tasks such as 'shopping'," he said.

"They soon learned that a bottle of ketchup feels the same as a bottle of salad cream if you are blind."

In August, Mr Baxter smashed two world records earning himself a place in next year's Guiness Book of Records. He broke the world solo land speed record for a blind or blindfolded person on any vehicle by driving his motorbike at 164.9mph, a record previously held by a fully-sighted but blindfolded person in a car. At the same time, he broke the world motorcycle record for a blind or blindfolded person.