LANCASHIRE MPs have expressed disappointment that the Commonwealth Games baton relay is set to bypass the county altogether.

The Queen’s Baton Relay to mark the Games coming to Glasgow this summer will visit England for two weeks from May 31.

The final stage of the ‘international’ leg of the relay will see the baton travel south from Manchester on May 31 to London and then back up north via Newcastle to its final event at Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland on June 13.

The tour will visit towns and cities up and down the country, including Birmngham, Sheffield, and Leeds, but nowhere in the whole of Lancashire or Cumbria was selected to host the baton.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said: “It’s very disappointing news. The Commonwealth Games is a fantastic spectacle, bringing people together from across the globe.

“I was proud when the Games came to Manchester, and I would have hoped that with the Games being in Glasgow this time the baton would have passed through Lancashire at some stage, and ideally Pendle. Regretably, that’s not the case.”

A Commonwealth Games England spokesman said: “We only have the baton for 14 days and, while we tried to accomodate as many bids as we could, we knew we couldn’t take it everywhere around England.

There was a process by which Local Authorities could submit a bid to host the baton. We selected host venues on the basis of those bids and we attempted to get a reasonable regional spread of events around the country ."

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said he would be inquiring if an application had been made by the county council to host the baton.

He said: “It is very disappointing that the people who organised it didn’t bring the torch through one of the most beautiful counties.”

Lancashire County Council said it was investigating if an application had been made and was unable to comment further.