Lunch turned into something flaming brilliant at Monkton yesterday.

Diners at an East Devon hotel were given the opportunity of a lifetime when they spotted the Olympic torch being held by a runner.

The runner was posing for pictures in the grounds of the Monkton Court Hotel, near Honiton, yesterday (Wednesday) lunchtime when the hotel guests seized the opportunity to be pictured with the iconic flame themselves.

Stephen Tucker, Ann Norris, Jean Wheatley and Jenny Carter all posed for a picture.

Jenny Wheatley, co owner of the hotel, said: “It was something very impromptu.

“A group of people were having a business meeting and one of them had been a runner for the Olympic relay.

“My mother was having lunch with some friends and looked out of the window and saw the man having his picture taken with the torch.

“I never though i would get to touch the torch, but I did.”