London 2012: Surrey towns and villages on torch route

Denise Saliagopoulos with Elisabeth Hoffing and Andy Cope from the Coca-Cola Olympic torch tour

Eleven towns and villages will be on the route of the Olympic torch relay as it heads through Surrey to the London 2012 Games, it has been announced.

The flame will pass through Egham and Felbridge on 10 and 17 July before returning to the county on 20 July.

It will then go through Godstone, Bletchingley, Redhill, Reigate, Dorking, Westcott, Shere and Godalming.

The final stop is Guildford, where it will make an overnight stop before entering London for the Games.

A night of celebrations is planned for Stoke Park.

Surrey will host the relay as it nears the end of its 8,000-mile journey across the UK.

The relay starts on 19 May at Land's End, Cornwall, and finishes at the Games' opening ceremony on 27 July.

The torch will travel for about 12 hours a day and there will be an evening celebration at many locations.

The Surrey stretch of the relay ends exactly one week before the start of the Games.

"The fact the torch relay will visit so many Surrey towns and villages over three days next summer is a thrilling prospect," said Denise Saliagopoulos, Surrey County Council cabinet member for the 2012 Games.

"It should pass within 10 miles of almost everyone in the county so I hope as many people as possible turn out to celebrate."

At an event held at Leatherhead Leisure Centre on Monday to mark the announcement of the torch relay route through Dorking and Westcott, leader of Mole Valley District Council, James Friend, said it was "a great honour".

"It is our moment to shine," he added.

Mark and Sarah Henton's father, Ted, was a torch bearer in 1948

He was joined by Olympic gold medal canoeist Tim Brabants and Mark and Sarah Henton, whose father Ted Henton was a torch bearer for the 1948 Olympic Games.

They brought with them the actual torch that he carried.

Surrey is hosting next year's Olympic cycle race, for which a million spectators are expected to line the route in the county.

The cycle route takes competitors from The Mall in the capital, through west London and then out to Surrey and back.

The Surrey section includes a 15.5km (9.6-mile) circuit around Box Hill.