Warrington's moment to shine!

DETAILS of the Olympic Torch Relay through Warrington on May 31 have been revealed by the borough council.
Members of the public are invited to join the thousands of school children lining the route or to go to Orford Park to celebrate the achievements of the Torchbearers who will be carrying the Flame.
Warringtonians carrying the torch through town include Emily Woodward, aged 12, from Birchwood Community High School. Emily has demonstrated excellence in all areas. She has received recognition for her academic success in several subjects including performing arts, english, art and french demonstrating that she always strives to achieve her best.
Other torch bearers include Primary School Head Teacher Helen Lea, aged 42, who is described as a good motivator for pupils family and friends and keeps them interested in sports and other activities, Jason El-kaleh, aged 17, a young trustee of the Wolves’ Foundation, who is an inspiring young person who volunteers on a regular basis with disability groups, promoting and representing the foundation in many capacities and Steve Deakin, MBE, aged 51, team manager of the Royal Hospital Transplant sports team. Described as a positive, inspirational person, he is always smiling positive and up beat despite the difficulties he has faced in his life. He is currently back on the transplant waiting list for a kidney following the failure of his transplant he had 25 years ago.
Accessible viewing points are located on Sankey Street where 200 seats will be laid out near the Golden Gates for those with mobility issues and Winwick Street (near the carpark on the corner of Tanners Lane).
The flame will arrive in Warrington from Halton via Liverpool Road at around 1pm and will travel the length of Sankey Street past the Golden Gates and the hundreds of primary school children who will be taking part in an all-day mini-Olympics event at Bank Park.
It will then be carried up to Marketgate where the 70-strong Warrington Male Voice Choir will be performing, turn down Horsemarket Street and on to Winwick Street. The Torch will then call into Tesco’s carpark for a 15 minute Coca Cola sponsored stop.
From there it will be carried up Winwick Road, along Jubilee Way and into the newly opened Orford Park where it will be met by a large-scale music and dance performance by hundreds of children and young people from dozens of schools across the borough.
Cllr Terry O’Neill, (pictured) leader of the council said: “I would encourage everyone to come out and see the Flame as it comes through the town, it’s a once in a life time opportunity and a chance to get the countdown to London 2012 officially started in Warrington.”
The route through the town centre will be decorated with specially made banners by local schools and groups on the theme of glory. There are still a small number of these blank banners remaining, check out the ‘London 2012’ section of the council’s website for further information.
At Orford Park Olympic officials accompanying the Flame will be stopping for lunch, this is not a public event however the musical performances will carry on outside the hub whilst the crew has a break.
From Orford Park the convoy will be heading to the BT call centre in Westbrook for a second sponsor stop, this is not open to the public. It will then be making its way up to Bolton for an evening celebration via Lowton, Hindley and Wigan.
The council’s highways team plan to close just three roads ahead of the convoy arriving in Warrington – Sankey Street, Winwick Street (near the Lord Rodney pub) and Jubilee Way. Diversions will be in place for road users and local bus services. Whilst the Torch is being carried through the borough, the police will be implementing a series of rolling road closures along the length of the route.
Road users and commuters should therefore allow a little extra time when making journeys from late-morning to mid-afternoon on this day.
On the morning of 31 May the council will be providing live updates via www.warrington.gov.uk and its official twitter page @warringtonbc – stay tuned on the day for all the latest news and updates!
To find out more about the streets and timings of the relay in Warrington and elsewhere visit www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelay