THE Duke of Edinburgh admired the state-of-the-art facilities at Bolton Arena on a whistlestop visit to the town.

Prince Philip watched a match in progress shortly after the badminton tournament began on Friday.

He was escorted around the Arena by the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr John Walsh, for more than 40 minutes before leaving to watching the bowling competition at Heaton Park.

The Duke arrived in Bolton shortly before 10.30am and was greeted by a small crowd which had been waiting more than an hour to catch a glimpse of him. Security was tight and the crowd was kept behind crash barriers as Prince Philip gave well-wishers a hearty nod and a wink before disappearing into the venue where he met officials, athletes and volunteers.

Maria Ballentine, a volunteer from Oldham, was one of the first people to meet the Duke. She said: "I found him very friendly. He just asked me whether I was enjoying the Games. I told him I was."

The Duke toured the Arena and spent time in the warm-up room, where Mauritius coach Guo Hui Luo, aged 40, found an opportunity to have his picture taken with him.

Mr Luo said: "I recognised him and didn't want to miss the opportunity."

He later spoke to 20-year-old badminton player Martin Awusu Adu, from Ghana, who appeared not to recognise the Duke. The athlete said: "He was very nice. He asked me whether I practised a lot in Ghana."

Bolton Arena is hosting badminton every day during the 10-day duration of the Games.