Church bells will ring, Fort Amherst’s canons will be fired and a flotilla of yachts will pass under Rochester Bridge as the Olympic torch comes through Medway.

Torchbearers will start the journey in Gillingham shortly at 7.50am on Friday, before passing through Chatham, Rochester and Strood.

While passing through Medway the flame will be carried by more than 20 torchbearers, along a route that will take in Medway Park, Brompton Barracks and Rochester Castle.

Among those carrying the torch will be Wouldham head teacher Carl Fitter, from Cliffe, fundraiser and cancer survivor Debbie Puxty from Gillingham, and 12-year-old Howard School pupil Nathan Mitchell, also from Gillingham.

The torch will leave Medway along the Gravesend Road in Strood just after 9.30am, before it heads to Higham and Gravesend town centre.

Cllr Rodney Chambers, leader of Medway Council, said: "The torch relay will take in five and a half miles of Medway’s streets and this will be an amazing spectacle for all to see.

"I urge people, wherever you are, if you can do try and take this once in a lifetime chance to see the Olympic Torch pass through Medway."

People hoping to see the torch relay should allow plenty of time to get there as there will be rolling road closures as the runners pass through."

Chatham bus station will be closed from 7.45am for around an hour and buses will start journeys and terminate on the edge of the town centre.

Those travelling on Medway’s streets or using public transport should plan ahead for their journey. For more information go towww.medway.gov.uk/torchrelay

Chatham library in Dock Road, will open early at 8am and the Visitor Information Centre and café in Rochester High Street will open from 7am to welcome any visitors who are coming to Rochester to see the torch pass by.

Torch bearers from Medway will be joining the relay in other parts of Kent this week.

Pride in Medway winner Alec Martin, pictured left, will be carrying it through Sturry in Canterbury on Thursday afternoon, while 12-year-old Cameron Edmonds, from Chatham, who is battling a muscle-wasting disease, will carry the iconic flame in Broadstairs on the same day.

Frindsbury schoolgirl Harminder Samrai, who is living with a pacemaker, will carry the torch through the centre of Gravesend and Medway policeman Det Sgt Melwyn Moore will take part in the relay in Challock near Ashford.

To find out more about the torch relay through Kent and view our interactive map, click here.

Do you remember the last Olympic torch relay thorugh Britain in 1948? Share your memories with us by contacting the newsroom on 01634 227828.

We’d also like to hear from you if you are volunteering for this year’s Olympics or have an interesting connection to the 2012 Games. You can also emailmedwaymessenger@thekmgroup.co.uk