diff --git a/coco.py b/coco.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a6c9b4d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/coco.py
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+import os
+import cv2
+import pickle
+import numpy as np
+
+
+def parse_coco_annotation(ann_dir, img_dir, cache_name, labels=[]):
+    if os.path.exists(cache_name):
+        with open(cache_name, 'rb') as handle:
+            cache = pickle.load(handle)
+        all_insts, seen_labels = cache['all_insts'], cache['seen_labels']
+    else:
+        all_insts = []
+        seen_labels = {}
+        
+        for ann in sorted(os.listdir(ann_dir)):
+            img = {'object':[]}
+
+            all_lines = []
+
+            ann_path = os.path.join(ann_dir,ann)
+            with open(ann_path,'rt') as label_file:
+                raw = label_file.read()
+                all_lines = [l.strip() for l in raw.split('\n') if l.strip()]
+
+            image_filename = ann.replace('.txt','.jpg')
+            image_filepath = os.path.join(img_dir,image_filename)
+            cvimage = cv2.imread(image_filepath)
+            if cvimage is None:
+                print("Skipping .... {}".format(image_filename))
+                continue
+            h,w,_ = cvimage.shape
+
+            img['filename'] = image_filepath
+            img['width'] = w
+            img['height'] = h
+                
+            for l in all_lines:
+                class_index,xcen,ycen,width,height = l.split(' ')                
+                obj = {}
+
+                xmin = max(float(xcen) - float(width) / 2, 0)
+                xmax = min(float(xcen) + float(width) / 2, 1)
+                ymin = max(float(ycen) - float(height) / 2, 0)
+                ymax = min(float(ycen) + float(height) / 2, 1)
+
+                xmin = int(w * xmin)
+                xmax = int(w * xmax)
+                ymin = int(h * ymin)
+                ymax = int(h * ymax)
+
+                obj['xmin'] = xmin
+                obj['ymin'] = ymin
+                obj['xmax'] = xmax
+                obj['ymax'] = ymax
+                obj['name'] = class_index
+
+                if obj['name'] in seen_labels:
+                    seen_labels[obj['name']] += 1
+                else:
+                    seen_labels[obj['name']] = 1
+
+                img['object'] += [obj]
+
+            if len(img['object']) > 0:
+                all_insts += [img]
+
+        cache = {'all_insts': all_insts, 'seen_labels': seen_labels}
+        with open(cache_name, 'wb') as handle:
+            pickle.dump(cache, handle, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)    
+                        
+    return all_insts, seen_labels
+
+
+def test():
+    import json
+    import random
+    
+    try:
+        os.remove("test.pkl")
+    except:
+        pass
+
+    config_path = "config.json"
+
+    with open(config_path) as config_buffer:    
+        config = json.loads(config_buffer.read())
+
+    ###############################
+    #   Parse the annotations 
+    ###############################
+    train_ints, _ = parse_coco_annotation(  config['train']['train_annot_folder'], 
+                                            config['train']['train_image_folder'], 
+                                            "test.pkl", 
+                                            config['model']['labels'])
+
+    annot_info = random.choice(train_ints)
+
+    colors = {  '0':(255,0,0),
+                '1':(0,255,0),
+                '2':(0,0,255),}
+
+    cvimage = cv2.imread(annot_info['filename'])
+
+    for bbox in annot_info['object']:
+        x1 = bbox['xmin']
+        y1 = bbox['ymin']
+        x2 = bbox['xmax']
+        y2 = bbox['ymax']
+        color = colors[bbox['name']]
+        cvimage = cv2.rectangle(cvimage,(x1,y1),(x2,y2),color,thickness=1)
+    cv2.imshow("display",cvimage)
+    cv2.waitKey(0)
+
+
+ 
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    test()
diff --git a/train.py b/train.py
index cf9509b6a..7d7c181b0 100644
--- a/train.py
+++ b/train.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import json
 from voc import parse_voc_annotation
+from coco import parse_coco_annotation
 from yolo import create_yolov3_model, dummy_loss
 from generator import BatchGenerator
 from utils.utils import normalize, evaluate, makedirs
@@ -33,13 +34,20 @@ def create_training_instances(
     valid_image_folder,
     valid_cache,
     labels,
+    annot_type='voc'
 ):
     # parse annotations of the training set
-    train_ints, train_labels = parse_voc_annotation(train_annot_folder, train_image_folder, train_cache, labels)
+    if annot_type == 'coco':
+        train_ints, train_labels = parse_coco_annotation(train_annot_folder, train_image_folder, train_cache, labels)
+    else:
+        train_ints, train_labels = parse_voc_annotation(train_annot_folder, train_image_folder, train_cache, labels)
 
     # parse annotations of the validation set, if any, otherwise split the training set
     if os.path.exists(valid_annot_folder):
-        valid_ints, valid_labels = parse_voc_annotation(valid_annot_folder, valid_image_folder, valid_cache, labels)
+        if annot_type == 'coco':
+            valid_ints, valid_labels = parse_coco_annotation(valid_annot_folder, valid_image_folder, valid_cache, labels)
+        else:
+            valid_ints, valid_labels = parse_voc_annotation(valid_annot_folder, valid_image_folder, valid_cache, labels)
     else:
         print("valid_annot_folder not exists. Spliting the trainining set.")