FARNHAM townsfolk got to grips with the Olympic torch this week, helping carry the iconic flame on its way to the Olympic Stadium through Berkshire, Dorset, Sussex and Surrey.

Erica Betton, who has raised thousands of pounds for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, was the first to carry the torch through Slough on July 9, followed by Andrew McKenna, a young musician formerly of Weydon School and Alton College, in Poole last Friday.

Erica said: "My legs were like jelly. It was great to have my family along the side and the crowds that gathered to watch were amazing. The whole experience was over very quickly but it was absolutely breath taking to have been involved in such a historic moment."

Gail Whattingham, who famously illuminates her house in Greenfield Road, Farnham every Christmas for charity, was next to run with the flame through Easebourne on Monday, and said of her experience: "It was emotional, very emotional, with so many people lining the streets. It was fantastic, and of course, a great honour."

Dan Eley, who still fundraises for charity despite a life changing accident, and Austin Playfoot, who carried the torch before the 1948 London Games, will take part in the relay through Godalming and Guildford on Friday.

And James Hardwick, the young chairman of Farnham's branch of the British Heart Foundation, will carry the torch through Richmond next Tuesday, marking the last Farnham torchbearer before the flame heads east toward the Olympic Stadium.