The Prime Minister watched as Claire Lomas lit the cauldron from the English national flame kindled on Scafell Pike earlier this week. London mayor Boris Johnson and London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic chair Seb Coe were also at the ceremony, which took place in Trafalgar Square this morning, 24th August 2012.
Claire was left paralysed from the chest down following an eventing accident in 2007 and she now has a T4 spinal cord injury. Earlier this year, Claire became the first person to complete a marathon in a bionic suit when she walked the London Marathon with the pioneering robotic aid, raising £204,000 for Spinal Research.
After she lit the cauldron, 26 flame ambassadors each collected a splinter of the flame in a lantern to take back to celebrations being held around the country. The flame is visiting a number of London's most famous landmarks today as the capital gears up for the start of the Games. It will later be carried in front of performers preparing for the Notting Hill Carnival, visit the Houses of Parliament and be taken on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) as it travels around the capital.
Three other Paralympic flames were struck by Scouts on the summits of the highest peaks of the home nations earlier this week. As well as Scafell Pike in England, they were lit on Snowdon in Wales, Ben Nevis in Scotland and Northern Ireland's Slieve Donard.
The flames will rest at Paralympic celebrations in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, along with London, before heading to Stoke Mandeville, where they will be united during a special ceremony on 28th August before a 24-hour relay to the opening of the Games at the Olympic Stadium.
Visit Claire Lomas’ JustGiving page
More information about the Paralympics 2012 Torch Relay