PART of the Paralympic flame will be brought to Wisbech over the August Bank Holiday weekend for a flame ceremony at the Hudson Leisure Centre, it was announced today.

Wisbech is one of just six venues for the flame to visit in Cambridgeshire, and the special event held to host the flame will involve the Fenland Disability Sports Forum, Fendis.

The flame celebrations are part of the Paralympic torch relay. Four flames will be lit, in London, Greater Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, before being shared throughout the nation.

The four flames will then be united at a Paralympic flame lighting ceremony at Stoke Mandeville on August 28, before being carried on a 24-hour overnight relay to London and the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

Councillor Martin Curtis, who leads on the Olmpics at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “It is fantastic news to her that parts of the Paralympic flame are coming to our county.

“Cambridgeshire has a long and celebrated history with the Olympic and Paralympic movement so I am sure the events which are being planned and the excitement which is building around the games will touch the lives of many ion the months to come.”

Jody Cundy, one of the greatest ever Paralympians, went to school in Wisbech. His family live at Walpole St Andrew.

Cundy enjoyed a successful career in the swimming pool, winning gold medals in Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. In 2006 he switched to cycling and in 2008 won two gold medals in the velodrome - making him one of only a handful of athletes who have become Paralympic champion in two different sports.