Police pay Blaine a visit

When did you last see 10 of the Met's finest striding along with such evident sense of urgency?

Were these officers cracking down on street crime or responding to a burglary? No - for all their protective vests, batons and handcuffs, they were only doing what many other Londoners do, rounding off the evening with a look at David Blaine.

After all, if Sir Paul McCartney can come and look at the magician's bid to go 44 days without food, why can't a London bobby?

The officers descended on Blaine's compound near Tower Bridge just before 4 am. Security staff asked if they were responding to a call but they were, apparently, just "bored" and had come to watch.

After 33 days, Blaine may just have feared the men in blue had finally come to take him away.