THE OLYMPIC flame is continuing to ignite the county’s enthusiasm.

Air cadet volunteer Mo Merchant, 70, is one of a handful of county residents given the honour to carry the torch.

Mrs Merchant is due to take her turn on Tuesday, July 10, in Nettlebed.

The part-time school bus driver, of Foliat Drive in Wantage, said excitement over the Olympics was growing since the torch arrived in the country last month.

She said: “There have been crowds coming out to see it – I think people are really getting behind it. I can’t wait for Day 52 when I get to carry it.

“I have no idea whether I will be overwhelmed or not. It will be a fantastic feeling, one I’ve never had before and never will have again.”

Mrs Merchant has lived in Oxfordshire for 40 years and is a civilian instructor with 2410 (Didcot) Squadron Air Training Corps. Her service to the Air Cadet Organisation began with 1861 (Wantage) Squadron ATC in 1988 and she was a warrant officer 21 years.

She said: “I do it because I love it, not because I want to make a big deal of it.

“To be nominated was good but then to be selected was fantastic, a dream come true.”

As a part-time bus driver, Mrs Merchant drives children from Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor to Matthew Arnold School in Botley.

Her husband, two daughters, two grandsons and cadets will watch her carry the torch.

Mrs Merchant was nominated by colleague Flying Officer Jane Wicks.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Wing said: “We are all so proud of Mo after a lifetime of dedication to duty. As well as being a hard worker she is also one of the most popular people in the Wing.”

The Olympic Torch will visit ten towns including Bicester, Woodstock, Oxford and Abingdon, on July 9 and 10.

Becci Berry, who lives in Coleshill near Faringdon, carried the torch through Chiseldon, near Swindon, on Wednesday, May 23. The 39-year-old mum-of-two has helped raise for than £40,000 for cancer charities after both her younger brother Ben, 29, and her husband Rich, 34, died of the disease.

Mrs Berry said: “It was amazing. It was very exciting and slightly overwhelming. I hadn’t realise how enthused everyone would be by the torch.

“There were crowds of people and people were touched by it all –which was great.”

She said it would be a great occasion when the flame reached the county.

She added: “I think it will be huge. It’s a once in a lifetime thing.”

After running with the torch she brought it back to the village and about 300 residents formed a line and passed it from the All Saints’ Church, past the Radnor Arms pub, and to the cemetery where her husband is buried.