500,000 to turn out for rugby heroes

More than half a million people are heading to the West End to salute the England rugby squad in what is expected to be Britain's biggest sporting victory parade.

An hour-long procession of two open-top double-decker buses carrying the World Cup heroes from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square will bring much of central London to a halt from late morning.

A police operation involving 500 officers will oversee the event, with covert surveillance for any opportunistic terrorist attack. The public has been warned to be aware of pickpockets and illegal traders selling black market World Cup memorabilia.

TIMETABLE

Noon: Buses carrying England team leave Marble Arch
1pm: Arrive at Trafalgar Square to display trophy. Giant TV screens there will show entire parade.
1.20pm: After interviews with players, buses leave for RFU reception at Intercontinental Hotel Hyde Park
4pm: Players arrive at Buckingham Palace for tea with the Queen
6.30pm: Reception with Tony Blair at Downing Street

TRAVEL

Arrive two hours early to be sure of a good view, Transport for London advises
Tube: Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and Charing Cross stations will be busiest. Try instead Green Park, Embankment, Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Sq.
Bus: up to 200 routes disrupted by road closures. From 10.30am, services from West finish at Marble Arch, services from East finish at Tottenham Court Road.

Roads:
Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Haymarket, Pall Mall and Trafalgar Square closed from 11.30am to 2pm.

The "Sweet Chariot Victory Parade" will dwarf the low-key bus trip down the Edgware Road laid on for the England World Cup-winning football team in 1966.

The Metropolitan Police has put no official estimate on the those expected to line Oxford Street, Regent Street and Trafalgar Square, saying only that they are preparing for "a large number".

But sources in the group organising the parade - which includes the police - are expecting more than 500,000 to turn out following the euphoria triggered by the stunning 20-17 defeat of Australia.

Many of the hundreds of thousands working and shopping in the West End will stop to watch. Added to that, many thousands around the country have indicated that they will travel to the capital to see their triumphant heroes.

One person involved in planning the parade said: "If you think that 10,000 people turned up at 4.30 in the morning to welcome them back at Heathrow then you have a fair litmus test of just how many people will make the effort to see the bus tour."

The biggest turnout for British sporting champions in recent years was the estimated 250,000 to 450,000 spectators who packed Manchester for an open-top bus tour by Manchester United's 1999 European Champions League winning squad.

The Arsenal Double-winning team of 1998 drew an estimated 250,000 crowd for its parade through Islington.

Today's tour starts at midday from Marble Arch and will move at what is described as "horsewalking pace" along Oxford Street. The plan is for side streets along the route to be closed and reopened in a rolling operation as the two buses pass by.

However, police admit that if the crowds throng around the buses, this may be impossible. "Assume that the West End is going to be closed for two hours," said a Met spokeswoman today.

At Oxford Circus, the buses will turn right into Regent Street before crossing Piccadilly Circus and moving down Haymarket into Trafalgar Square by 1pm. There are plans for a brief reception with Mayor Ken Livingstone.