Herefordshire Paralympic flame 'ambassador' sought

People in Herefordshire have been asked to nominate a torchbearer to collect the Paralympic flame from London.

There is no nationwide relay for the Paralympic torch - instead a flame with be lit in the capital cities of each home nation.

Councils are being encouraged to stage their own events using a torch lit from one of these flames

Herefordshire Council wants an ambassador to bring back a lantern lit from the London flame on August 24.

Paralympic flame celebrations are being held in Hereford the next day at the Royal National College for the Blind.

Demonstrate support

The four torches will leave the capital of each of the home nations and be taken to Stoke Mandeville, the home of the Paralympic Movement, where they will be combined into a single flame.

A 24-hour relay will take the combined torch from Stoke Mandeville to light the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games on 29 August.

Locog has announced the first 332 people chosen to carry this flame.

Herefordshire council said the person chosen to be their ambassador will attend the London flame lighting event on 24 August in Trafalgar Square to collect part of the flame in a lantern and transport it back to Herefordshire.

Herefordshire's legacy officer for the 2012 Games Steve Ashton said: "Herefordshire has a number of athletes competing at the Paralympic Games and it will be a great opportunity to demonstrate our support for them".

The council has asked for nominations to be submitted by Thursday 31 May.