By Louise Eccles PUBLISHED: 17:32 EST, 20 April 2012 | UPDATED: 17:36 EST, 20 April 2012 For a fit young police officer keen to get out of the office and into the fresh air, it is the ideal assignment. No wonder 664 applied for the 36 places in the squad guarding the Olympic torch on its 70-day journey around the country before the London Games. Yesterday the chosen few seemed to be taking their duties in their stride during a dress rehearsal between Leicester and Peterborough. Dummy run: A female volunteer carries the (unlit) Olympic torch through Loughborough flanked by a cohort of police guards
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664 officers applied for the 36 places in the Olympic torch guard squad
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Police will see occupational health specialists and career advisers to help them settle back into Met
They will form part of a wider 70-strong team selected from the @placeholder to follow the relay and help with traffic control, security and event management.