OLYMPIC hero Jason Kenny will welcome The Princess Royal to Bolton next week — despite initial fears he was going to miss the visit.

Princess Anne’s visit to the borough was originally scheduled for January 22 but it was cancelled at the last minute when poor weather left her aircraft unable to take off from RAF Brize Norton.

Buckingham Palace promised to schedule a return as soon as possible and she will now visit Bolton on Tuesday, April 23 — St George’s Day — where she will officially open Bolton’s £30 million health, leisure and research centre Bolton One.

She will also visit the Royal Bolton Hospital where she will unveil the £20 million neonatal and maternity centre of excellence. When the rescheduled visit was announced it was thought Jason, the Fanworth double gold medal-winning cyclist, would be out of the country training.

But changes to his schedule means he will now be able to greet the princess and show her around the flagship building.

The Princess Royal will also meet physiotherapy patients in the NHS gym as well as gold and silver Paralympian medalist Tony Griffin and gold European junior cycling medalist Matthew Rotherham, and will also watch a spinning class.

She will then meet former Bolton Wanderers player Fabrice Muamba, who will demonstrate heart resuscitation in the athlete development centre, before unveiling a plaque officially opening Bolton One.

Mayor of Bolton Cllr Guy Harkin said: “We are excited about the Princess Royal’s visit and look forward to welcoming her to Bolton.

“Bolton One is a flagship building born from a unique partnership between Bolton Council, NHS Bolton and The University of Bolton.

“We are extremely pleased that it will be visited by Her Royal Highness and that we will have the chance to show her around this fantastic facility.”

Princess Anne has visited Bolton several times over the years.

In 1978 she opened the Royal Bolton Hospital’s maternity unit which bears her name — the Princess Anne Maternity Unit.

Her last visit to the borough was in July, 2010, when she toured Watson Steel.