A HALESOWEN athlete will be flying the flag for the region when she joins the GB Paralympic Games team.

Cyclist Helen Scott MBE, a member of Halesowen Athletic and Cycling Club, will act as tandem for rider Aileen McGlynn, who has sight impairment.

The pair will be going for gold in the sprints events, hitting speeds of more than 40mph.

Birmingham-born Helen - who moved to Halesowen when she was ten and is a former Earls High School pupil - joined the Manor Abbey-based club as a child and was soon showing her enormous potential as a competitive cyclist.

Her glittering career has already seen her win double gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she teamed up with sight-impaired Sophie Thornhill to claim the visually impaired tandem sprint title - and followed it up by bagging another gold gong in the kilo time trial.

She has also won medals at events including the 2009 National Track Championships - where she won gold with the women's Team Sprint.

She also narrowly missed out on another gold at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing second, again paired with McGlynn.

Helen, who will be 31 on Sunday (July 25), will fly out to Tokyo for the start of the Paralympic Games on Tuesday August 24.