23 Aug 2012

Four flames lit on UK's highest peaks

5:58 am on 23 August 2012

Four Paralympic flames have been lit on the highest peaks of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland ahead of next week's Games in London.

Disabled and able-bodied scouts scaled Scafell Pike in the Lake District in England, Snowdon in Wales, Scotland's Ben Nevis and Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland.

The four flames will be brought together next Wednesday at Stoke Mandeville, the hospital in southern England that is the spiritual home of the Paralympics.

The Paralympics are a near sellout, with spectators attracted by high-profile competitors including "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee sprinter who competed in the Olympics.

A record 4200 athletes from 166 countries will take part and the Games will be watched by an estimated global television audience of four billion.