Olympic Torch Fetches £153,100 In Online Sale

An Olympic torch has sold on eBay for £153,100 just one day after the first leg of the relay.

Sarah Milner Simonds, of Burnham-on-Sea, listed the item as being "used in the torch relay" and mentioned that it "may be soot marked from its moments alight".

The internet auction finished on Sunday and the winning bidder remains anonymous.

Ms Milner, who was also selling the torch bearer's uniform, is using the money for community gardening project The People's Plot.

There were also over 30 other auctions on the site for Olympic torches - many of which popped up following the sale.

One torch was going for £10,600 with 16 hours to run, and another had attracted a top bid of £4,100 with 14 hours left to bid.

One seller had put their torch up for sale with a starting bid of £100,000 but had received no offers.

The 8,000 torchbearers who were chosen to carry the Olympic flame on its journey across the UK were nominated to run a leg of the Olympic torch because they had done something brave or inspirational in their communities.

Organisers had previously said they would sell the Olympic torches at a loss to the bearers.

They cost £495 to make and torchbearers could buy theirs after the relay at £215 each so they could keep a bit of memorabilia.

But it seems some torchbearers decided to choose profit over nostalgia.

A spokesman for Locog said: "It is up to torchbearers what they do with their torches, and we hope the torches on eBay go to a good home."