Just three days after it arrived in the UK - the Olympic flame has gone out.

The torch was attached to the side of Para-badminton star David Follet's wheelchair in Great Torrington in Devon.

Officials have confirmed the flame went out shortly before 10am on Monday.

A spokeswoman for LOCOG said: "The flame went out due to 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.

The spokeswoman added: "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 Olympic flame is symbolic as it commemorates the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus. Its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics.

The fire was reintroduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and it has been part of the modern Olympic Games ever since.

Follet, who was carrying the flame on his wheelchair when it went out, was left paralysed at 19 when he was struck by a car but then went on to set up a badminton club for wheelchair athletes.

He is now the para-badminton world Number one in his class.