The Olympic Flame will pass through East Lancashire on its tour of the country, it has been revealed today.

This afternoon organisers revealed that the relay will pass through the area as it is taken from the Blackpool stop to Manchester.

However, the area does not feature on the list of 74 locations where the torch will stop each night for celebration events.

A specific route, detailing exactly where it will be in East Lancashire and on what day, will be announced later this year.

Adrian Leather, chair of the Lancashire 2012 Group and Chief Executive of Lancashire Sport Partnership said: “We have worked hard to promote Lancashire as a great place to host the torch relay and celebrate the Olympic values which connect us to the London Games and locally inspired opportunities for you to take part in.”

The Olympic Flame will arrive from Greece exactly in one year and the relay will kick off in Land's End, Cornwall, and continue for 70 days until the opening ceremony of the Games on July 27, 2012.

Organisers have also announced details of how the public can apply to be one of 8,000 torchbearers.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: "The Olympic Flame will shine a light right across every nation and region of the UK and showcase the very best of who we are and where we live.

"The first locations on the route confirmed today give a flavour of the reach the Olympic Torch Relay will have around the UK and how extensive the opportunity for starting to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games will be."

The relay aims to go within an hour's travel time of 95 per cent of the population - and there are also plans to take the Olympic Flame to Dublin.