LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - British former prime minister Margaret Thatcher has been taken to hospital, the BBC reported on Friday.

The broadcaster said Thatcher, 82, was taken to a hospital in south London for "precautionary tests".

In 2002, Thatcher suffered a series of strokes and, on the orders of her doctors, ended a gruelling round of public speaking engagements.

Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister, governing for more than a decade after her election in 1979, and earning a reputation as one of the most formidable politicians of her era.

(Writing by Michael Winfrey)

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