A man has unsuccessfully tried to grab the Olympic torch from a runner taking the flame from the town of Maidstone to Redhill, near London.

BBC footage broadcast live to the Web showed the unidentified man launching from the crowd in the English riverside town of Gravesend. The torchbearer ran to safety and the man was packed away by security.

This year's torch relay has not been hit by the human rights protests that bedeviled the Beijing Olympic relay in 2008. But police are still ready to ward off attention-seekers who might try to attack the flame on its 8,000 mile (12,800 kilometer) journey.

The torch is due to arrive in London later Friday, when a Royal Marine will rappel with it from a helicopter to the Tower of London.