Olympic torches go for over £150,000 on eBay

Before the first day of the relay was completed, the gold torches appeared on the online auction site.

The torches have fetched more than £150,000.

One torch used on Saturday is currently attracting bids of more than £30,000.

The seller lists the item as: “An amazing sporting souvenir, be one of the first to have one!”

Other torchbearers have pledged to donate the proceeds from the sale to charity.

Sarah Milner Simonds, from Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, who is selling her torch to raise money for the project she represents, said she had received a bid of more than £150,000.

Ms Milner said she still needed to check if the bid was genuine.

“It only occurred to me to do it on Saturday night,” she told BBC Breakfast.

“The sale closed last night at 10 o’clock and the final bid was £153,000.”

The torchbearer, who was nominated for her work as a community gardener, said she was dismayed that people who objected to her decision had started sending her abusive emails.

“Obviously it has really upset people but I think that it’s not something that is really me to keep my shiny trophy on a mantelpiece when it is obvious how much good one can do with the money that someone might be willing to pay for it.”

Sellers have also auctioned off the uniform they wore while carrying the flame.

Meanwhile, an Olympic torch went out for the first time yesterday during the London 2012 relay, organisers confirmed.

The torch was attached to the side of Para-badminton star David Follett’s wheelchair in Great Torrington, Devon, when the flame went out shortly before 10am.

A spokeswoman for LOCOG blamed a malfunctioning burner.

“It is not uncommon for a flame to go out and this can happen for a number of reasons, for example, in extreme winds.”

A replacement torch was brought out from the convoy of vehicles and was lit from the mother flame.

“We keep the mother flame in specially designed miners’ lanterns so if the flame does go out for some reason on the relay we relight it from the source of the flame,” the spokeswoman added.

Follett was left paralysed at 19 when he was struck by a car.

But after returning to college to complete his A-levels he looked at what sports were available to wheelchair athletes and helped to set up a badminton club.

With his playing partner, Follett has been unbeaten for three years in the four nations competitions and he is now the Para-badminton world No 1 in his class.

The other torchbearers running yesterday ranged in age from children from Minehead School to 91-year-old Arthur Gilbert.

Mr Gilbert, of Burnham-on-Sea, will be one of the oldest of the 8,000 torchbearers who will carry the Olympic Flame on the way to the July 27 opening ceremony.

He said he received an MBE in 2008 to recognise 35 years of charity work.

Mr Gilbert ran his first triathlon at the age of 68 and completed his most recent race in June last year in 2hr 45min 43sec.