Shoppers visiting the new Westfield shopping centre based near London’s Olympic Park may have their cars checked by security staff before they can enter.
Organisers are boosting security at the Olympic Park
The new shopping centre, which is due to open on September 13, will be a gateway to the venue in Stratford, east London. Spectators will make their way through the £1.45bn project to the Olympic Park during the Games in July, August and September next year. Fears have been highlighted about the security risk during the Olympics due to the close proximity of the shopping centre. There are more than four million people within 45 minutes of Westfield and it has parking spaces for up to 5,000 cars. From now until the end of the Paralympic Games in September 2012, G4S security staff, employed by the London Organising Committee (Locog) will check vehicles entering the public car parks.
The security screening areas will be based at Warton Road, Penny Brookes Street and the Lea Interchange off the A12. Vehicles chosen for searches will be asked to pull over before continuing their journey into Westfield’s car parks. Last week it was revealed that Locog was reviewing Olympic security requirements and may need many more staff than originally planned. The budget allocated to the Games organisers for security inside the Olympic venues is £282m but it has been suggested that this may rise.
Team GB athletes pose outside the new Westfield centre
This is on top of a Home Office security budget of £475m available to the police and security services for operations outside the Olympic Park and a £125m reserve fund. Locog chief executive Paul Deighton said: “Delivering a safe and secure Games is a key priority for everyone involved in London 2012. “With Westfield so close to the Olympic Park and with vehicle access to it directly accessed from the park, it is an obvious and important part of our security plans.
“We will make the checks as quick and unobtrusive as possible – we are confident that shoppers will recognise the need for us to be vigilant and carry out these checks. “We are also committed to working with the local community to ensure that vehicle screenings have a minimal impact on their daily lives.”
2012 LONDON
Lia Hervey, Sky News Olympics Desk
