China wants to parade the Olympic flame through London again, raising fears of a repeat of the violent protests that marred its appearance in the capital last weekend.

Officials in Beijing have announced plans to hold the first international torch relay in advance of the Paralympic Games. The Paralympic torch is scheduled to arrive in London on August 31, before moving on to Sochi in Russia and Hong Kong.

It will also pass through Vancouver and will reappear in Beijing in time for the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on September 6.

Although many of the torchbearers are likely to be disabled athletes, protesters have vowed to take to the streets of London if China has not improved its record in Tibet and on human rights. It raises the possibility of demonstrators charging into the path of wheelchair-bound sports stars in an attempt to extinguish the Olympic flame.

“The protests have never been aimed at the athletes themselves, it is about the Chinese authorities hijacking the Olympic ideals,” said Anne Holmes, acting director of the Free Tibet Campaign.

Beijing officials have been liaising with the British Paralympic Association (BPA) to organise the UK leg of the new relay and the Metropolitan Police have been put on standby. However, after last Sunday’s fiasco — which saw police officers and Chinese paramilitary guards attempting to shield torchbearers — British officials appeared to be playing down the event.

Scrapping the event would be regarded by China as a snub, but a compromise could involve the torch being carried along a very short route or in an enclosed environment such as an open-top bus. The Greater London Authority, which organised last weekend’s event, said it had received “no formal proposal” for a second torch relay.

Charlie Bethel, chief executive of the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association, said: “I think there’s the potential for people to make a scene again. Is that wise so close to the Games?”

The Commons Home Affairs select committee is to investigate the policing of last Sunday’s torch relay, which led to 36 arrests. “We were particularly concerned about the presence of ‘torch attendants’ who in some cases were apparently fully-fledged members of the Chinese security services,” said Keith Vaz, the committee’chairman.