Hackney to be twinned with Scarborough for Olympic events

Scarborough Town Hall is popular with seagulls

Hackney and Scarborough will be sharing the Olympic vibe in an unusual new twinning arrangement.

The two local authorities may have little in common – one, Britain’s first seaside resort on the edge of rural Yorkshire which is under no overall control, the other a densely-populated Labour-run London borough – but that has not prevented them from taking part in an Olympic-themed link designed to spread the experience of the 2012 Games.

Throughout 2012, Hackney and Scarborough will join together in a range of cultural and sporting events as part of the Coast 2012 scheme. The scheme is to be run by the two local authorities together with the Scarborough charity Seachange.