HUNDREDS of cheering supporters have welcomed the symbol of this year's Commonwealth Games to Canterbury with the arrival of the Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay to the city.

They gathered in the Dane John Gardens on Sunday to see former world boxing champion Barry McGuigan carry the baton onto the bandstand. He had run with it for the last leg into Canterbury which started at Sturry and involved 12 specially-chosen runners each completing 500 yards.

The baton, which left Buckingham Palace on March 11, is in the final stages of an extraordinary journey in which it has been carried through 23 countries across the Commonwealth. It is now making its way around Britain visiting 49 towns and cities in 50 days and involving 5,000 runners.

Its journey will end in the City of Manchester Stadium on July 25 to mark the official opening of the 17th Commonwealth Games.

Inside the aluminium baton is a special message which will be read by the Queen.

The 12 local runners, including Barry McGuigan, completing the Canterbury leg were Lauren Cooper, 15, who started the stage at the Welsh Harp pub at Sturry; Georgina Hart,14; Richard Hooper, 13 and Kieran Vincett, 14, who all attend Canterbury High School.

The others were Alex French, 12, of the Whitstable Community College; Amanda Bodemeaid from the Kent Association of the Blind; Sandra Moore, from Rough Common, near Canterbury, former UKC student Trudi Else, of Sport England; Claire Stevens, from Maidstone; Sheila Webb, of the Spokes cycling group, and Geoff Hayes from the Canterbury charity Footprints.

Throughout the afternoon crowds gathered in the Dane John Gardens to enjoy a variety of entertainment laid on in the build up to the arrival of the baton. There were concerts by the Canterbury City Band and the trio Sneakers and Simply Signing - a group which uses British sign language to interpret variety of songs.

Students from Sandwich Technology School teamed up with visiting pupils from the Ping Yi school in Singapore to present a cross cultural production of music and dance. Children were also entertained by a juggler and a giant Punch and Judy act.

After Mr McGuigan was welcomed onto the stage by the Lord Mayor, Cllr Mary Jeffries, he said: "It is a great honour to deliver the baton to my adopted city of Canterbury. I have a great affinity with the Commonwealth Games having won a gold medal in Canada in 1978 and am very much looking forward to it being hosted in this country."

The Lord Mayor was also presented with a pewter replica of the baton by a representative of the Commonwealth Games.

The baton, which is made of machined aluminium, is more than 70 cms long and weighs 1.69kg. Either side are two specially minted sterling silver coins. Inside it has sensors which detect the runner's heart beat which is conveyed by LEDs which give off a dramatic blade of light.