TORCH bearers will carry the Olympic flame through towns and cities across the North- East and North Yorkshire in the lead up to next year’s London games.

Alnwick, Durham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and York will be among the stop-offs for the torch relay.

Thousands of people are being recruited for the flame’s 70-day journey across the UK before the opening ceremony in the capital.

North-East Olympic medallists Steve Cram and Brendan Foster were on the Quayside, in Newcastle, after yesterday’s announcement to explain what it meant for the region.

Cram, 50, a former world record holder who won a silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984, said: “The torch relay is very much part of the games and has become a bigger part in the past three or four Olympics.

“It brings it closer to everyone who is not going to be in the stadia and is in itself a great event.

“By the time it gets to this region there will be thousands of people lining the streets every day as it comes near their town or city, and there will be parties every night. It helps build up the excitement and anticipation of the games.”

Stop-offs will include Alnwick on June 14, Newcastle on June 15, Durham on June 16, Middlesbrough on June 17 and York on June 19.

The flame will be greeted with evenings of celebrations.

The Olympic flame will arrive in the UK from Greece on May 18, 2012 and the torch relay will start at Land’s End, Cornwall, the following day.

It is estimated it will be carried 8,000 miles before arriving at the Olympic Stadium on July 27.

Foster, 63, who won a bronze medal at the Montreal games of 1976, said: “The fantastic thing is that the public are going to be asked to nominate people to carry the torch and that is a great honour.

“It means you can actively be involved without doing sport.”

The route to be taken by the torch also raised comments in the House of Commons, when Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott asked why the city had not been included.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, she said: “What can the Prime Minister say to the people of Sunderland, the largest city in the North-East, and to my constituents, about the news that the Olympic torch is not stopping in the city?”

In reply, David Cameron said: “I have to say that I was not aware of that. Perhaps I can look into the route that the Olympic torch will take – and if it is possible to divert it via Sunderland. I will certainly do my best.”