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LONDON (Reuters) - The government has put extra soldiers on standby to provide security for the London Olympics following concerns the private contractor G4S would not train enough guards in time for this month's Games.
Some 23,700 security guards will protect the Olympic venues as part of Britain's biggest peacetime security operation, and 13,500 military personnel have already been earmarked to contribute to this.
However, fears over whether G4S would recruit enough guards in time has prompted the government to take action with the Olympics due to start on July 27.
"We have agreed to offer help to G4S by revising the level of military support," a spokeswoman for the Home Office said.
Media reports said 3,500 soldiers had been put on standby but the spokeswoman said exact details would be confirmed by the Defence Secretary on Thursday.
The security guards will provide airport-style checks to search and screen spectators, and can also check vehicles, such as buses, travelling through the Olympic Park in east London.
They will also be responsible for queue management and protecting the perimeters and equipment.
More than 100,000 people applied for the 10,400 temporary jobs in what G4S had described as one of the biggest paid recruitment drives in Britain this century.
Last week, Ian Horseman Sewell, managing director of G4S Global Events, told Reuters in an interview that the company was "absolutely on track to deliver".
"This has been an unprecedented and very complex security recruitment, training and deployment exercise which has been carried out to a tight timescale," a G4S spokesman said.
Government puts army on standby for Olympics - Yahoo! News UK
Some 23,700 security guards will protect the Olympic venues as part of Britain's biggest peacetime security operation, and 13,500 military personnel have already been earmarked to contribute to this.
However, fears over whether G4S would recruit enough guards in time has prompted the government to take action with the Olympics due to start on July 27.
"We have agreed to offer help to G4S by revising the level of military support," a spokeswoman for the Home Office said.
Media reports said 3,500 soldiers had been put on standby but the spokeswoman said exact details would be confirmed by the Defence Secretary on Thursday.
The security guards will provide airport-style checks to search and screen spectators, and can also check vehicles, such as buses, travelling through the Olympic Park in east London.
They will also be responsible for queue management and protecting the perimeters and equipment.
More than 100,000 people applied for the 10,400 temporary jobs in what G4S had described as one of the biggest paid recruitment drives in Britain this century.
Last week, Ian Horseman Sewell, managing director of G4S Global Events, told Reuters in an interview that the company was "absolutely on track to deliver".
"This has been an unprecedented and very complex security recruitment, training and deployment exercise which has been carried out to a tight timescale," a G4S spokesman said.
Government puts army on standby for Olympics - Yahoo! News UK
