Heroes' welcome for Welsh Olympians and Paralympians

Welsh Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be honoured for their achievements in a ceremony held in the Senedd Credit: ITN

Welsh stars of the Olympics and Paralympics will be given a heroes' welcome later as Wales thanks them for their achievements after a fantastic summer of sport.

A special event will be held at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay this afternoon to honour the achievements of the Welsh athletes at the London 2012 Games.

Welsh athletes secured a total of 22 medals, with 7 of those won in the Olympics and 15 in the Paralympics.

The first medal for Wales was a silver for Chris Bartley in the men's Lightweight Fours and from there the medal tally just kept rising.

Speaking ahead of this afternoon's ceremony, First Minister Carwyn Jones urged the Welsh public to join in this afternoon's celebrations and show how proud the nation is of its athletes.

The slogan of the London 2012 Games was 'Inspire a generation', and the success of Welsh athletes and Team GB as a whole has already resulted in a noticeable increase in numbers at sports clubs across the country.

ITV Wales has learnt that some clubs have experienced as much as a 50% increase in the number of people coming through its doors.

From 4:30pm members of the Cultural Olympiad will perform outside the Senedd in Cardiff Bay to entertain the crowds.

This will be followed by an athletes parade onto the steps of the building where they will be greeted by First Minister Carwyn Jones and the Assembly's Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler.