£64,000 to police starving Blaine

Policing illusionist David Blaine’s 44-day starvation stunt cost more than £64,000 (€93,130), the British Home Office said tonight.

Minister Hazel Blears said she had been informed by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens that the bill so far was £64,135 (€93,317).

But that is before the costs of the final day – when the US entertainer came out of his glass box over the Thames at Tower Bridge – have been calculated.

Replying to a written question from Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten, she said “over half” the cost would be met by a television company involved.

The company was also covering all the costs, such as parking and cleaning, incurred by Southwark Council, she said.