Policing Blaine: the £64,000 question

Home Office minister Hazel Blears said she had been informed by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens that the bill so far was £64,135.

However, the costs of the final day – when the magician and illusionist came out of his glass box – are still to be calculated.

Replying to a written question from Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten, Blears said "over half" the cost would be met by BSkyB.

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