Policing torch relay in capital cost £746,000

Nearly £750,000 was spent on policing the chaotic Olympic torch relay in London last April, the Government has said. Sports stars and celebrities were among the torchbearers for the 31-mile journey ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

But the relay on 6 April was hijacked by thousands of human rights protesters who disrupted the event. By the time double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes lit a symbolic cauldron at the end of the day, 36 arrests had been made. Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said the Met had spent £746,000 on policing the event. The figure was disclosed in a parliamentary reply to Tory MP David Amess.