G4S farce goes on: Just 20 out of 300 staff turn up at Olympic venue as Buckles yields to angry calls from police and Army to cover their costs



Massive absenteeism at cycling road-race venue in Box Hill, Surrey

Boss Nick Buckles faces Commons Home Affairs Select Committee



Army and police drafted in to help cover security guards for Games venues



£700m has been wiped off the firm's value since Wednesday



G4S chief executive Nick Buckles gave evidence on Olympic security staffing to the Home Affairs Select Committee today

The fiasco surrounding G4S security at the Olympics continued today as only 30 out of 200 staff turned up for work at a cycling venue in Surrey.

The huge absence of personnel at the road-race circuit in Box Hill came as it was revealed only 4,200 of the contracted 10,400 guards have so far reported for duty across the country.

It is the latest blow for the company, which has been slammed for the level of training its staff have received, as well as absenteeism at other Games venues.

The news comes as the chief executive of the security firm, Nick Buckles, appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee today to explain the company's catastrophic arrangements.

He told the committee that although 200 had originally been earmarked for duties, just 35 were rostered on to work at the Games venue.

The figures are all the more remarkable given the fact that the total workforce of G4S is 650,000 - more than the population of Luxembourg, one MP pointed out.



Workers in Surrey will be tasked with guarding the venue, where thousands are expected to watch cyclist Mark Cavendish go for Britain's first gold medal on Saturday, July 28.



When challenged by an MP over the Box Hill figures, the embattled boss appeared to agree with him at first but Ian Horseman Sewell, managing director of G4S Global Events, later told the committee that figure was wrong.

Mr Horseman Sewell said: ‘The demand placed on G4S today was 38 people – not 200, not 300 – at nine o’clock this morning.



‘Yesterday, and the day before, working through the shortfall, we said to our partners [police and armed forces] we thought we would be able to provide 50 per cent. '

Only 30 out of 200 G4S security staff turned up for work at the Olympic cycling road-race venue in Box Hill, Surrey (above)

Around 3,500 soldiers and police from nine forces around the country are being drafted in to make up the severe shortfall for the Olympics, which begin in ten days

Workers in Surrey will be tasked with guarding the venue, where thousands are expected to watch cyclist Mark Cavendish (pictured at the Tour De France earlier this month) go for Britain's first gold

And adding to the confusion over numbers in Surrey, he added: ‘Seventeen people have turned up to work for G4S today.’

Mr Buckles, who earns £830,000 a year, agreed that his company had been responsible for a 'humiliating shambles' as it failed to provide enough guards for Games venues.

Despite having more than 20,000 guards accredited to work at the Games, his company was unable to provide even the 10,400-strong workforce it was required to under a contract worth £284million.

He also insisted that he would not resign.

Around 3,500 soldiers and police from nine forces around the country are being drafted in to make up the severe shortfall for the Olympics, which begin in ten days.

Following calls from angry police chiefs, Mr Buckles assured the committee that his company would reimburse the costs of all forces which have been required to deploy extra officers because of G4S workers' failure to turn up.



Asked if G4S would also pay bonuses to the military and police, he said: 'We're willing to consider anything that the military considers appropriate.'

Pressed further, he said bonuses would be considered, 'particularly for the military personnel who have had to come off leave to cover the Olympics'.

Asked by committee chairman Keith Vaz why the firm wanted to claim its £57million management fee at all, Mr Buckles said: 'We've managed the contract and we've had management on the ground for two years.

'We still expect to deliver a significant number of staff.'



Mr Vaz said: 'I find that astonishing.'

Nick Buckles (back view, right) and Ian Horseman-Sewell, global events specialist at G4S (left), as they give evidence on Olympic security staffing to the Home Affairs Select Committee

BORIS JOHNSON: 'THERE WILL BE THINGS GOING WRONG'

Boris Johnson reacted today over the chaos caused by the Olympic fast lanes for Games officials and VIPs.

Speaking in front of screens showing pictures of the state of the capital's roads at Transport for London's surface transport operations control centre in Southwark, south London , the Mayor of London said: 'At the moment, things are going very, very well.

'There will be imperfections, there will be things going wrong.

'But this is a ginormous operation.

'Members of the public do seem to be heeding our message to avoid London if possible.

'Yesterday, traffic in the morning was about 9.3 per cent down and it was down by about 9 per cent in the evening.

'My information is that no fines for entering the M4 Games Lane were issued yesterday, so it is working well and people are respecting it.'

Mr Johnson added: 'People should check the variable messages on the roads. Even during the busy Olympic periods, it may be possible to allow general traffic to use the lanes.'

Transport Secretary Justine Greening, who joined him at the centre, said : 'The Olympics will be a challenge for London and challenge for transport in London.'

Asked about possible drivers' confusion over the Games Lanes, she said: 'There are a lot of signs up.

'Motorists are being given all the information they need.

'The Olympic Route Network (ORN) is obviously going to be disruptive for local residents but I hope they realise what an amazing experience the Olympics is going to be.

'The ORN for the Games was brought in after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when some Paralympic competitors even missed their events due to transport problems.

'We have had to strike a balance between putting in the ORN and not affecting ordinary traffic too much.'

Mr Buckles said the company took on the contract to boost its reputation - and that the £50million G4S stood to lose on the contract was 'a huge amount to the company, 10 per cent of profits, it has a significant impact'.

The company had lost a further 6 per cent of its value - wiping out £700million - since last Wednesday because of the problems.

Mr Buckles said there had been 'exclusive management focus on this contract for two years'.

It was a separate subsidiary within the firm, with a management team and a project board to review its progress every month, he told MPs.

G4S is now aiming to provide a minimum of 7,000 security guards, Mr Buckles said.

Commenting on the Box Hill debacle, a spokesman for Surrey police said: 'We continue to work closely with LOCOG and G4S on the Olympic security regime ahead of the Games.



'As of this week, Surrey Police has implemented its full Olympic policing plan which includes supporting LOCOG's venue security operation.



'This has always been an established part of the plan and there is no longer the requirement to provide additional officers to enhance the security arrangements in place at this stage.



'Delivering a safe and secure Games is our top priority and we are working closely with our partners to deliver an end-to-end security operation.



'As part of our planning for the Games, we have built contingency and resilience into our resourcing.



'This will continue to be available throughout the Olympic period and we will not compromise on keeping the streets and our local communities safe.'

Yesterday, police were dragged off the beat to work on the Olympics after dozens of G4S security guards failed to turn up for work.

Just four of the 58 staff expected to report for duty at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, showed up, one of whom later disappeared.

And in Salford, Greater Manchester, only 17 of the 56 G4S staff due at another Olympic team hotel could be bothered to present themselves for work.

No Walkers or Ginsters? U-turn over ban on 'unauthorised' snacks at Olympic venues after police fury



What's all this then? Police may now safely eat Walkers at the Olympics

Guidelines that would have prevented police from chomping on Walkers crisps - and other 'unauthorised' brands - at Games venues has been overturned after sparking outrage.

Olympic guard police were initially told they must empty their packed lunches into clear plastic bags and remove any brand advertising.



But officers who will be patrolling the Games’ rowing events at Eton, Berkshire, were furious when told by senior officers they must not be seen with snacks such as Ginsters pasties.



Bosses at Thames Valley Police insisted that before going to the Olympic events, officers - including Royal Protection guards - must empty their snacks into a clear polythene bag.



The top-level instruction, based on guidelines from the Games’ London organisers, was designed to protect advertising by the official sponsors including Coca-Cola, Cadbury’s and McDonald's.



With the Games being televised around the world, organising bigwigs want to stop any free advertising for firms which haven’t forked out millions in sponsorship money.



The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) sent a directive to all forces involved in the policing of the Games to comply with the order.



It meant that PCs protecting the millions of spectators expected to watch the events live at venues in and around London would be forced to empty their branded sandwiches, crisps and chocolate bars into unidentifiable packaging.



With just days to go until the opening ceremony of the biggest sporting event in the world, police officers were up in arms over the absurd rule.



A Police Federation member for Thames Valley Police, who are policing all rowing events for the Olympic and Paralypic Games at Dorney Lake, in Eton, said: 'I’d like to see a security guard try to tell a police officer to empty his lunch into clear bags.



'They’d have to be very brave because the answer he’d get would be very short indeed.'

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said in a statement: 'We are expected to comply with LOCOG requirements and therefore are not expected to enter the venue with any goods that do not reflect sponsors.



'This position will be briefed to all officers and staff, although operational effectiveness and any response to an incident will always be our priority.'

However, after LOCOG was made aware of the strict interpretation of their rules by Thames Valley Police chiefs and the discord of officers, they spoke to the police and issued clarification.



'The revised guidance amounts to a major climbdown by our top brass who have realised they were taking the "no branding or advertising" rules a tad too literally,' said one police officer involved in the Dorney Rowing Lake events.



'It is a victory for commonsense - but if we hadn’t kicked up a fuss, they would have had us decanting our crisps and pop into unmarked containers.'

A spokesman for LOCOG said that the rule had been put in place to stop unauthorised brands advertising at the Games and not to stop anyone enjoying the event.



The spokesman said: 'We wouldn’t want to tell people what they can bring into the venues and what they can’t.



'There are rules about brands which are aimed around advertising but petty things like food products aren’t the target of it.

