- 90 communities in the North West announced on the Olympic Torch Relay route
- The Olympic Flame will be in the North West from 29 May - 2 June and 20 - 24 June 2012 and will visit every county
- People in the North West are invited to start planning their welcome
- Over 95% of the UK population will be within 10 miles of the Olympic Flame
The official route for the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay will include a trip through Lancashire - it has been announced.
The route in Lancashire will travel through Chorley and Ormskirk, before moving on later to Morecambe, Lancaster, Garstang, Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Preston, Accrington, Burnley and Rawtenstall.
The Chairman of the Lancashire County Council marked the announcement of this iconic event by visiting Morecambe, which will be visited on the middle day of the 70-day Torch Relay.
He joined some of Lancashire's rising sport stars and the Mayor of Lancaster Paul Woodruff to mark the announcement, next to another world famous icon - the Eric Morecambe statue.
The Chairman of the county council, County Councillor Geoffrey Roper was joined by some of Lancashire's rising sports stars including Ben Whipp, an athlete and javelin thrower, and Bea Fletcher who plays ice hockey and inline roller hockey. Ben and Bea are two of the nominee Torch Bearers from Lancashire.
Chairman of Lancashire County Council, Geoffrey Roper said: "It is a great honour for Lancashire to be chosen for the Torch Relay which will be seen by people around the world. Whenever a Torch Relay travels around the world, it attracts attention.
"We are delighted that the route is coming through the county and would have liked the torch to travel to all Lancashire districts, but this still promises to be a very memorable year. I hope that Lancashire people will turn out along the route to welcome it."
The Lancashire leg of the 70-day tour originally only included one day, but after discussions with LOCOG this has increased to three days. This is more than many other parts of the country. Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG said: "This is the UK's moment to shine and I want to encourage people across Lancashire to start planning how they can be part of this once in a lifetime opportunity and show their support for the inspirational Torchbearers chosen to carry the Olympic Flame as we count down to the start of the Olympic Games."
Over 1,000 villages, towns and cities have been announced by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) through which the Olympic Flame will be carried by Torchbearers during the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay which is presented by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung.
LOCOG has worked closely with representatives from a number of sectors in Lancashire to devise the route.
The 70-day Olympic Torch Relay, will start at Land's End, Cornwall on the morning of 19 May 2012. On leaving Land's End, the Olympic Flame will travel an estimated 8,000 miles around the UK giving thousands of communities and individuals their moment to shine as the Olympic Flame comes to a place near them.
The route through Lancashire:
Friday 1 June: From Horwich through Chorley, Euxton, Burscough, Ormskirk and then on to Southport.
Friday 22 June: From Cumbria to Carnforth, Bolton-le-Sands, Hest Bank, Morecambe, Lancaster, Garstang, St Michael's on Wyre and Fleetwood. Then on to Blackpool.
Saturday 23 June: Starting in Lytham St Anne's visiting Warton and Preston. Travelling through Blackburn to Accrington, Burnley, Crawshawbooth and Rawtenstall. It will then travel on to Rochdale.