London 2012: Britain to receive Olympic flame from Greece

London 2012 chief Seb Coe, the Princess Royal and and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson are heading up a delegation which will see the Olympic flame "laid to rest" at the Acropolis later.

It will officially be handed over to London at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens a day later, on Thursday night.

The British delegation is then to fly to RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall with the Olympic flame on Friday.

London mayor Boris Johnson said bringing it home was "hugely symbolic".

Mr Johnson, in one of his first public official appointments since being re-elected this month, is also making the journey to receive the flame.

He said: "Bringing the Olympic flame back from its ancient home in Greece is a hugely symbolic moment which will ignite people's hopes and aspirations for what will be a summer like no other.

"As well as providing a fantastic spectacle of sport, the London Games are giving us a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make London an even better place to live, work and do business in.

"We must grasp the huge opportunities that they present to build on the investment we are making to deliver thousands of new jobs, new homes and new infrastructure that are already delivering solid economic growth in our great city."

Since the Olympic flame was lit in Athens on 10 May, a relay has taken place across Greece.

The British delegation will fly back from Athens on Friday evening, landing at RNAS Culdrose where there will be a special ceremony welcoming the flame.

A 70-day relay, involving 8,000 torchbearers covering 8,000 miles, will bring the flame to east London's Olympic Stadium and the opening of the Games on 27 July.