BOLTON boxing ace Amir Khan welcomed thousands of young athletes to the town for two days of sporting events.

Amir was accompanied by England and Manchester City goalkeeper David James to offically start the Greater Manchester Youth Games.

The weekend saw 4,500 young people from across Greater Manchester battle against each other. It was the last of Bolton's three-year stint as host of the games. Next year they will be awarded to another borough yet to be decided.

The games gave able-bodied and disabled athletes between 11 and 16 the chance to take part in competitive sport at five venues across the town.

Saturday saw an Olympic Games style opening ceremony with a torch delivered by Bolton police officers.

The Special Olympics Flame of Hope is being taken on a 2,415-mile long tour of the country to raise the profile of disability sport. Olympic Games silver medallist Amir said: "It's a fantastic event and gives a lot of youngsters the chance to experience competitive sport and hopefully they will get the taste for it.

"I'm very pleased to see them all looking so eager to get started and you can see they all want to win."

Each of the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester - Stockport, Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Trafford, Salford, Tameside and central Manchester - organised teams of competitors.

Sports included football, netball, rugby league, rugby union, cricket, table tennis, hockey, swimming, volleyball, aquathon, athletics, basketball, judo and tennis.

Events were held at Bolton Arena, St Joseph's High School, Horwich Leisure Centre, Castle Hill Primary School and Manchester Aquatics Centre.

David James added: "I'm here on behalf of the Special Olympics and it's an honour to be in the company of so many young people who want to come and get involved in competitive sport.

"Whether they win or lose they can all go home with their heads held high because they have taken part in what is a great event."

Mayor of Bolton Cllr Frank White said: "At a time when youngsters are getting some fairly bad press it's very encouraging to see so many here and taking part in what is a brilliant sporting event."