Sussex torchbearers have vowed not to sell their Olympic flames – but admitted checking to see how much they were going for.

The cheese-grater-style, gold flame-holders are being sold on internet auctioning site eBay.

And although Sussex torchbearers have had to shell out £200 each to buy a torch no one The Argus spoke to said they were willing to sell their piece of sporting history.

BHASVIC student Zachary Narvaez, 17, has been an active charity fundraiser since his early school days and has raised more than £4,000 for charities including the Martlets Hospice in Hove and the Edward Starr Trust.

He looked at eBay but said he was not tempted to cash his in after running in Brighton and Hove on July 17.

He said: “If people don’t have much money or if it is for charity I understand why people will sell. But I will probably keep mine in the lounge.”

Steve McMenamin, from Hurstpierpoint, will be running through Lewes on July 17.

He added: “I suppose I can understand why people are selling their torches, especially if it is for charity. But what kind of person would buy one that was so expensive?

“Who knows what I am going to do with it afterwards? Carry it around for a bit and light cigarettes with it until they get fed up with me.”

Tania Heward, of Southwick, also said she would not sell the torch. Her 12-year-old son Robbie is a torchbearer and will also be running in Brighton and Hove.

She said: “He has severe learning difficulties and the torch will be a visual memory of what happened.”

Across Sussex numerous people will be torchbearers including marathon man Kev Betts who last year completed 52 marathons in one year – including on his wedding day and Charlie White, 15, from Hastings who was born with Severe Combined Deficiency (SCID).

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