COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Army reinforcements called in for the Olympics

The military is poised to provide up to 3,500 extra troops for security duty at the London Olympics, the Guardian can reveal.

The last-ditch move has been forced on ministers only a fortnight before the Games because the security firm G4S has been unable to guarantee it will be able to supply the 10,000 guards it was contracted to deliver.

Originally, Locog contracted G4S to provide just 2,000 security guards of the 10,000 it thought it would require. But in December, G4S agreed to supply 10,000 of the new total of 23,700 under a new contract reported to be worth £284m.

The home secretary, Theresa May, has been pressing G4S to provide guarantees it can deliver on its commitments, but patience in Whitehall ran out last weekend and talks began over whether the Ministry of Defence could fill the gap.

"The army will provide an insurance policy," said a Whitehall source. The armed forces are already providing up to 13,500 personnel for the Games - split between the venues and back-up for police. Under the contingency plans, this could reach 16,500 – 7,000 more than are being deployed in Afghanistan.

The MoD has been seeking guarantees that any soldiers drafted in at the last moment will be properly compensated for cancelled leave.

This latest move will raise fresh questions over the extent to which the Games will appear overly reliant on the armed forces – last week it was confirmed that surface-to-air missiles would be located at six sites around the capital.

Firm at centre of Olympic security shambles 'has seen fee rise by £53m’

The company responsible for the Olympic security debacle is being paid £53 million extra for its work, after London 2012 organisers increased its “management fee” almost tenfold.

Confidential Home Office documents seen by The Daily Telegraph show that G4S has had its fee for managing civilian security staff for the Games rise from £7.3 million to £60 million.

The fee the company takes for running its Olympic office has risen more than 10 times faster than its spending on recruitment, the documents show.

The firm’s failure to provide enough staff for Olympic sites this week forced ministers to assign an extra 3,500 Armed Forces personnel to security work for the Games.

The new military deployment yesterday led to intense scrutiny of the contract and prompted calls for G4S to be banned from future government work.

The row over security added to the mounting sense of disarray around the Games, which start two weeks today. Olympic organisers privately admitted that the last two days have been the most challenging in the seven-year build-up.

The figures fuelled speculation about chaos in the firm’s Olympic operations. According to the Police Federation, 150 G4S staff were due to report to an Olympic “island” site in Warwickshire yesterday, but only one arrived. There were also several reports of people who said they had been offered jobs by G4S being unable to contact the firm to find out when they should report for work.

Ministers said that problems with G4S only became apparent this week. But a separate Home Office document, seen by ITV News, shows that in April, officials were predicting “big shortfalls against planned numbers” of security staff.

May 'was told 10 months ago of G4S failings'

Theresa May was last night under pressure to explain whether she could have averted the Olympics security fiasco as it emerged that the Home Office was warned 10 months ago that there were problems with the ability of G4S to provide security for the Games.

A confidential report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary was presented to Home Office ministers in September 2011, which should have raised alarm bells about the readiness of G4S.

The report by the police watchdog into Olympics security preparedness – which has never been published – raised serious issues over G4S last year, The Independent on Sunday understands. It is not known whether the Home Secretary personally saw the report or whether it only went across the desk of James Brokenshire, her junior minister. But given Mrs May's ultimate responsibility for policing and security during London 2012, she will be under pressure to explain why the crisis came to a head little more than two weeks before the opening ceremony.

The Home Secretary told the Commons last Thursday that the shortfall in guards which G4S could provide became clear only the day before, when the Government announced it was deploying 3,500 troops to cover the shortage.

In her statement, Mrs May said: "We were receiving reassurances from G4S until very recently, and the absolute gap in numbers was crystallised finally only yesterday."

Opponents point out the Home Secretary's careful choice of words could mean she was aware some time ago there was a general shortfall – raising questions over why it was left so late in the day to act.

Immigration arrests at Coventry stadium

Two men being accredited to work at the City of Coventry stadium during the Olympics have been arrested on suspicion of breaking immigration laws.

The 21-year-old and a 24-year-old were arrested following security checks carried out by the stadium's accreditation centre.

The stadium, home to Coventry City FC, is hosting 12 Olympic football matches.

West Midlands police said the men were in custody pending removal by the UK Border Agency.

The 21-year-old was arrested on Tuesday, while the 24-year-old was taken into custody earlier.

Both men work for East Midlands Security.

A spokesman for the City of Coventry Stadium said: "East Midlands Security has been employed as a sub-contractor by G4S to secure the car parks at the City of Coventry Stadium.

"We have not employed East Midlands Security for the Olympic Games and have never employed them.

West Midlands Police said it was working with officials from the UK Border Agency and that the arrests showed that accreditation checks at the City of Coventry stadium were "working as planned".