Met chief joins 7 July peace walk

Gill Hicks started the walk in the bombers' home city of Leeds

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has joined part of a 200-mile peace walk by a survivor of the 7 July London bombings.

Gill Hicks, 37, who lost both legs in the 2005 attacks, began the walk from Leeds to London on 19 July.

She hopes her Walk Talk initiative will get people talking about their beliefs and unite communities.

Sir Ian joined her for 45 minutes on Thursday as she and her husband Joe Kerr walked in Stanmore, north London.

Sir Ian described Mrs Hicks as "an incredible example of the triumph of the human spirit".

(Gill Hicks) is absolutely indomitable and I am very, very glad she is here in London Sir Ian Blair

"To have survived what she survived without bitterness and to reach out to try to cross community divisions is just remarkable," he said.

"She is absolutely indomitable and I am very, very glad she is here in London."

Ms Hicks has walked up to 10 miles a day on prosthetic legs.

She has been accompanied by a group of people and volunteers from the London Ambulance Service, who played a key role in her survival.

On Thursday she walked from a synagogue to a Quaker meeting house, accompanied by local Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Belief in humanity

Mrs Hicks said her walk was "about looking at anywhere where there's division, where there's an 'us' and a 'them', and asking how you start getting those groups together".

She added: "That morning on 7 July, I was saved by many people.

"It didn't matter about my faith, how much money I had or whether I was male or female, I was simply a human being and I think that will always live with me as a great example of having faith in each other."

Three of the four suicide bombers, who killed 52 people and injured nearly 800 in London in 2005, had links with Leeds.

The walk first headed to the Beeston area, where bombers Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain lived and where their leader, Mohammed Sidique Khan, had many connections.

Ms Hicks will complete her walk on Sunday in central London.