A LOCAL man has been granted his '15 minutes of flame' at the opening of the Millennium Olympic Games.

For Simon Toulson, 29, from Euxton, near Leyland, was handed the coveted job of carrying the official Olympic flame on to the packed streets of Sydney last week as part of the city's glittering opening ceremony.

Simon, who has worked for the International Olympic Committee based in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the past two years, e-mailed his parents Mary and Alan with the terrific news.

Mary said she had no idea her son had been chosen to carry the historic torch from Concorde into the city.

She said: "When he e-mailed us from his hotel room in Australia to tell us I was completely shocked and of course over the moon. It's so exciting for him and for us. It's normally athletes who get the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch."

Simon, who graduated with a sports studies degree from Northumbria University, works for the Olympic Committee as a technical officer -- gathering information and making sure stadiums and athletes' accommodation are up to scratch.

Speaking after the event Simon told his parents: "I was really, really nervous beforehand.

"I didn't really know what to expect, but everyone just wanted to talk to me -- it was absolutely amazing to be able to do something like that."

Simon's last visit to the area was earlier this year when he was invited back to his former high school to talk to pupils about the Olympic Games.