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LONDON – British police arrested a 17-year-old man on Friday after he tried to grab the Olympic torch on the day that it was due to make a dramatic arrival in London.
The incident happened as the torch was in Gravesend, a town on south bank of the River Thames east of London, said a spokeswoman for police in the county of Kent.
“We have arrested a 17-year-old man following an incident as the Olympic torch passed through Gravesend,” the Kent Police spokeswoman told AFP.
“At around 9:55 am (0855 GMT) a man apparently attempted to take the Olympic torch from a torchbearer,” the spokeswoman said.
“The man, who is from Gravesend, was arrested within seconds and he is now in custody of Kent Police.”
Security has been tight around the torch as it snaked its way on 8,000-mile (12,800-kilometre) relay around Britain, during which it also visited the Republic of Ireland.
Later on Friday a Royal Marine commando was to abseil from a helicopter with the torch, which will spend the night safely housed in the Tower of London, where the sovereign’s ceremonial jewels are kept.
The BBC said the torch was being carried at the time by Anna Skora, a 23-year-old from Lublin in southeast Poland.