Scouts to light Paralympics flame

Scouts will light flames on the highest mountains in each of the four home nations of Britain next week to spark the torch relay for the London Paralympics.

Members of the youth movement will spark flints on rocks on Scafell Pike in England, Snowdon in Wales, Ben Nevis in Scotland and Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland to create the flames on August 22, organisers LOCOG said yesterday.

The flames will travel to the four national capitals for a day of celebrations and then on to Stoke Mandeville in southern England, the spiritual home of the Paralympic movement, on August 28.

They will be united at Stoke Mandeville to create the London 2012 Paralympic Flame during a special ceremony, before a 24-hour torch relay to the Olympic Stadium in London for the start of the Games bringing together disabled athletes from across the world on August 29.

“We have created a unique identity for the Paralympic torch relay which will be a cele-bration of courage and equality that every Paralympian represents,” London Olympics chief Sebastian Coe said.

“By creating the four flames through human endeavour at the four highest peaks in the UK we will ensure that the spirit of each home nation is represented in the Paralympic flame.”

Organisers have sold more than 2.1 million tickets for the London 2012 Paralympics, beating the previous record set at the 2008 edition in Beijing.