A SCHOOL caretaker will be one of a team of seven to carry the Commonwealth Games baton when it passes through Darlington en route to Manchester in July.

Tony Cox, site supervisor at Haughton Community School, Darlington, has been selected as a representative of the community to carry the Queen's jubilee baton as it changes hands on July 10.

He applied to take part in the relay by completing a form on the Internet and saying why he thought he should be chosen.

The baton will make a 50-day journey through the UK, culminating in the opening ceremony of the Games in Manchester on July 25. There, the Queen will read the message enclosed in it.

The baton, which arrives in Northern Ireland from other parts of the Commonwealth on June 6, comes to Darlington on July 10 for an overnight stay before continuing to Leeds, via North-allerton and Thirsk.