Olympic torch: Prime Minister meets torch relay nominee

The Prime Minister has joined in the Olympic torch relay and met the cancer sufferer whom he nominated to carry the flame.

David Cameron met Clive Stone in Woodstock, West Oxfordshire, as the relay went from Luton to Oxford.

Mr Stone, 64, has campaigned for access to cancer treatments and was instrumental in the creation of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

F1 driver <itemMeta>news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-18674994</itemMeta> was the first torchbearer of the day in Luton.

Torchbearers also carried the flame through the birthplace of the Paralympic Games, <link> <caption>Stoke Mandeville</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14896776" platform="highweb"/> </link> .

Mr Cameron said of the relay: "It was very emotional. To see him with the torch was a lovely moment for everyone in West Oxfordshire.

"The scenes of so many children and so much enthusiasm is lovely because it's the bit of the Olympics that comes to you rather than you going to the Olympics and I think it's meant a lot, particularly to the school children."

Mr Stone carried the torch for longer than expected as the bearer before him, Harry Davies, was taken ill during his leg.

There was a brief delay while Mr Stone was brought to the handover point and the torch "kiss" took place.

The organisers, Locog, are trying to find another slot for Mr Davies to run a full leg on another day.

Day 52 began in St George's Square, Luton, with Lewis Hamilton in pole position. He told BBC Three Counties Radio: "I've had such a great reception, they made it even more enjoyable.

"I am so incredibly honoured to have the opportunity to do this, not many people get to do this.

"I have to thank God every day for the wonderful opportunities and blessings that I am given."

Hamilton was initially asked to carry the torch through his home town of Stevenage, but plans were changed because the flame was there while he was competing in Sunday's <link> <caption>British Grand Prix</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18759733" platform="highweb"/> </link> at Silverstone, in which he finished eighth.

<bold>Badminton medallist</bold>

Olympic badminton silver medallist Gail Emms later carried the flame through her home town of Milton Keynes.

Thrilled by her stint, Emms later tweeted: "Wow! What an experience!! Loved every second."

Emms was runner-up in the mixed doubles with Nathan Robertson in the 2004 Games in Athens.

She also won gold medals at the 2006 World Championships in Madrid, 2004 European Championships in Geneva and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Youth Olympic rowing gold medallist <link> <caption>Georgia Howard-Merrill</caption> <url href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/8923068.stm" platform="highweb"/> </link> also carried the flame in Milton Keynes. Oxford-based Howard-Merrill won the medal at the first Youth Olympic Games in the Women's Pairs in Singapore in 2010.

Later in the morning Jessica Stalley, from Bedford, took the flame into Bletchley Park - the site of Britain's main decryption centre during World War II and now home to the National Codes Centre and the National Museum of Computing.

The 16-year-old was nominated for the way she coped with having an operation to straighten her spine and for her aspirations to compete in the Paralympics.

Another 16-year-old, Rebekah Wagnell, carried the torch in Aylesbury.

Last year she won three silver and two gold medals for swimming in the 18th World Transplant Games in 2011. The Milton Keynes teenager was born with chronic renal failure and received a kidney transplant from her father five years ago.

Also in Aylesbury, Gemma Collis, 17, carried the torch at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

Stoke Mandeville Hospital was the site where pioneering neurologist Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann staged the forerunner of the Paralympic Games in 1948 - the International Wheelchair Games.

The Games were repeated at Stoke Mandeville four years later before the first official Paralympics took place in Rome in 1960.

There will be a separate Paralympic lighting ceremony at the site in Aylesbury, as part of the <link> <caption>Paralympic Torch Relay</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14896781" platform="highweb"/> </link> on 28 August.

Torchbearer Pat Pearce MBE outside Blenheim Palace

During the afternoon the flame also visited the stately home of Blenheim Palace, where Sir Winston Churchill was born.

Bringing a little bit of magic to the relay was Simon Cruden, who spends 54 hours every month volunteering at The John Radcliffe Children's Hospital performing magic acts, juggling and chatting to patients.

The 31-year-old, who had six brain operations as a teenager after being diagnosed with a brain tumour and is now registered blind, cast aside his white stick before running part of his 300m leg through Bicester.

Olympic rower

Archer <link> <caption>Naomi Folkard</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18442700" platform="highweb"/> </link> , who is competing for Team GB in the Olympics, carried the flame in Oxford.

A <link> <caption>game of Quidditch</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-18742566" platform="highweb"/> </link> , made famous by the Harry Potter stories, was being played in Oxford ahead of the arrival of the flame. Teams from Australia, France and the US are taking part in the two-day tournament.

The cauldron was lit by the final torchbearer of the day, former teacher Malcolm Fretter. He has been a paraplegic since 1971 but volunteers at White Horse primary schools. He is also secretary of Oxfordshire Schools' Football Association.

The evening celebration also included a performance of <link> <caption>Tree of Light</caption> <url href="http://thetreeoflight.org/page/about/" platform="highweb"/> </link> , which is part of the London 2012 Festival featuring 850 participants - including singers, dancers and power-generating cyclists - from school and community groups across Oxfordshire.

A total of 8,000 people will carry the flame during its 8,000 mile, 70-day journey to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London on 27 July.