BP says failed blowout preventer off Gulf well

HOUSTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L)(BP.N) removed a failed blowout preventer from atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well on Friday afternoon, a company spokesman said.

"The Deepwater Horizon BOP stack was successfully detached" from the Macondo well shortly after 1 p.m. CDT (1800 GMT), spokesman Daren Beaudo said.

BP will replace the failed blowout preventer with a working one and then resume drilling a relief well to plug the leak for good, the company said. (Reporting by Kristen Hays)