Paralympic Games torch relay arrives in London
The Paralympic flame has reached London as part of a 24-hour torch relay to herald the start of the 2012 Games.
Four national flames, kindled last week, were united in a cauldron at a ceremony in Stoke Mandeville - the spiritual home of the Paralympics.
A flame lit from that cauldron is being carried 92 miles from Buckinghamshire to London's Olympic Stadium.
The Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are among those attending Wednesday's opening ceremony.
The Paralympic flame, which is being carried by some 580 torchbearers, is due to visit Britain's first traditional Hindu temple, the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple in Brent, Lord's Cricket Ground, London Zoo and the Abbey Road crossing made famous by the Beatles.
In Trafalgar Square later, former boxer Michael Watson, wheelchair racer Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and Paralympic swimmer Chris Holmes will carry the flame.
'Inspiring a generation'
About 3,000 invited guests, including Paralympians, representatives from disability groups and local residents, attended Tuesday evening's ceremony at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.
Some 150 local residents took part in a lantern procession and formed a guard of honour for eight torchbearers who carried flames representing England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The children who were invited to take part in the procession, together with their parents, had gathered at Stoke Mandeville last week to make the lanterns out of canes, tissue paper and sticky tape.
One of those involved was 12-year-old William Lansdown from Hazlemere in Buckinghamshire, who has Down's Syndrome and attends asports group for disabled children.
"The lanterns looked brilliant," said William's mother, Lynn. "It was a great atmosphere, with the emphasis on families taking part and not just disabled people.
"The fact that so many children were involved made it special, given the theme of inspiring a generation to do more sport."
Earlier, performers entertained the crowds ahead of speeches by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Sir Philip Craven, Lord Coe, chairman of Games organisers Locog, and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Eva Loeffler, the daughter of the founder of the Paralympic Games, Dr Ludwig Guttman, paid tribute to the role the Stoke Mandeville Games - and her father - had in defining the modern Paralympic movement.
Lord Coe addressed the crowd, saying he was "excited" to be at the home of the Games on the eve of their opening.
Speaking of Dr Guttman, he said: "It is simply not possible to stand here without feeling a mountainous debt of gratitude for one of the world's great visionaries."
Carrying the English flame was Katie Piper and Paralympian Tony Griffin.
Ms Piper, who suffered major injuries when her ex-boyfriend attacked her with sulphuric acid, was nominated for setting up the Katie Piper Foundation and raising awareness of burns survivors.
During a 10-year career Mr Griffin won 38 medals and works as Bolton's Sports Ambassador promoting disabled sport.
The Scottish flame was carried by boxer Jon Jo Look, who has a prosthetic leg and coaches youngsters in the sport, and Noel McShane, who set up the National Wheelchair Tennis Association of Great Britain and the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships.
Darren Ferguson, a special constable who talked down a distressed man from a bridge, and Joseph Morris, who saved a girl from drowning in a river, carried the Northern Ireland flame.
Julie Gilbert and Marsha Wiseman carried the We
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