Police warn over Olympics staffing

Some 15,000 officers, about 10% of the police workforce in England and Wales, are expected to be involved in the operation.

Police said the event will be the biggest security and policing operation ever seen in Britain, but they fear the Games will be a high-profile target for not only terrorists but organised and petty criminals.

But grassroots police leaders fear preparations for the 60-day sporting extravaganza have already fallen behind.

Alan Gordon, Police Federation vice chairman, said the event could leave forces struggling to cope with ordinary duties. Speaking at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth, he said overstretched resources must be "urgently addressed".

Mr Gordon said the decision of some forces to scale down specialist units such as dogs teams could leave gaps in 2012. He said: "I am genuinely concerned that despite our knowing this event will happen we are still only in the early stages of planning and some forces are still unaware of their own commitments. New Year catches them out every year but this really is far too important an event to make the same mistakes."

Federation representatives were told how thousands of athletes and spectators will travel to the UK in 2012. They heard how criminals used the Sydney and Athens Olympics as cover for drug and people smuggling, fraud and other crimes.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, of the Metropolitan Police, said every force in the country will be affected by the Games. He said the national threat level is likely to rise from severe to critical as the Games approach.

Mr Ghaffur, the most senior officer responsible for Olympic policing, said: "The assessment is it will remain severe or go critical in the very near future right up to the Games themselves."

The conference was told the bill for policing the Games may be as much as £600 million.