Olympic torch relay route revealed

More than 70 villages, towns and cities across the West Midlands will be visited by the 2012 Olympic torch relay as it makes its journey to London for the games, it was announced today.

The route will take in five areas of Walsall, 20 of the Black Country and Staffordshire and four in Wyre Forest.

Bloxwich, Leamore, Birchills, Walsall and Willenhall will all welcome the torch before it moves on to Lichfield will welcome the torch before it heads south to the Black Country including Bloxwich, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

The torch will also make a stop in Dudley, where the bearer will be treated to a ride on an historic tram and Stour canal boat. The areas are among 1,018 villages, towns and cities across the country to be visited as part of the UK tour, which starts in Land's End on May 19 and finishes in London on July 27.

West Midlands for 2012 chairman David Moorcroft said the event would be a "once in a lifetime" experience for many people.

"I am delighted that nobody in the West Midlands will be more than an hour away from the Olympic Flame as it passes through our region," he said.

The flame will arrive in the UK from Greece via BA flight on May 18.

From May 24 it will pass through Callow Hill, Bewdley and Kidderminster, Gnosall, Haughton and Stafford before returning on June 30 for the start of a tour of Staffordshire and the Black Country. An overnight stop in Birmingham will be marked with an evening of Olympic-themed celebrations.