Lack of security at Olympic venues has hit policing in Warwickshire

Frontline officers are among those from forces including West Midlands, West Mercia, Staffordshire and Leicestershire who have been called in to provide protection for the teams in the Olympic Games football tournament who are using The Chesford Grange Hotel near Kenilworth, Warwick University and The Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

The police are standing in in place of staff from Olympics contractor G4S, for which only a small number of staff have reported for duty.

An officer involved in the operation, who declined to be named, said: “Despite the fact that some G4S staff have now started work, the ongoing doubt over numbers available day-to-day means there appears to be no end in sight for the greatly enhanced police presence at Olympic venues.

“By now, The Chesford Grange should have had a reasonably small police contingent but we are having to commit about 80 to 100 additional officers a day to ensure the hotel remains secure.

“There is also a hidden cost of operational planners and senior officers who should be either planning for upcoming events such as the Bulldog Bash or focusing on running the force, but who are instead having to sort out the hole left by G4S.

“This is an additional burden we could frankly have done without.”

Stuart Hinton, secretary for Warwickshire Police Federation, said that along with public safety he was concerned about the welfare of officers who have had to miss rest days on top of already having a leave embargo placed on them because of the Olympics.

He said: “God forbid if we had another major incident like the Gerry Tobin murder at the Bulldog Bash and we could go into meltdown.

“It would stretch us again but we would respond to the best of our ability.”

G4S has come under criticism after it announced it did not have enough trained staff to cover the Olympic Games.

The firm was contracted to provide 10,400 personnel but 3,500 troops are to be brought in for the London events.