Locks at one of London 2012's main football venues have had to be changed after Metropolitan police lost set of internal keys

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

An investigation is under way into how police conducting searches at Wembley Stadium before the Olympics last week lost a set of internal keys, forcing security chiefs to change locks.

Officers checking the venue ahead of matches in the men's and women's football competitions reported the loss last Tuesday, but Games organisers insist security has not been compromised. Scotland Yard is not treating the incident as criminal.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan police said: "On the morning of Tuesday 24 July, officers on Olympic police operations at Wembley Stadium reported that internal security keys, being used by them as part of searches, were missing."

Other officers attended the scene to help look for the missing keys but in vain.

"Detectives also attended to ascertain if there was any evidence of criminal offences," the spokeswoman said. "There's none at this time."

Wembley officials were made aware of the incident, said the spokewoman. "There is absolutely no security concern in relation to the stadium as measures were taken immediately to secure all key areas of the venue."

A spokesman for London 2012 moved to quell any fears that there had been a security breach. "These were internal keys, locks have been changed and the security of the venue has not been compromised in any way."

The first Wembley fixtures in the men's tournament were held on Sunday, with Senegal beating Uruguay 2-0 and Great Britain beating United Arab Emirates 3-1. Crowds were left hungry, thirsty and frustrated when Wembley's concessions were unable to accept credit cards.

A Visa spokesman said: "We understand that Wembley's systems failed and therefore they were only accepting cash at the food and beverage kiosks. This cash only decision was made by Wembley management and not Visa. We are working with the Wembley team to help them fix this as soon as possible."

England will play Brazil in the women's competition on Tuesday – one of six first-round matches on the day.