London Latest - Tents Ban to Thwart Olympics Protests; Blow for Stadium Legacy Plan

Tents Ban to Thwart Olympics Protests

Britain's Home Secretary promises to ban all tents and encampments from Olympic venues to avoid the specter of protests tarnishing the global image of the Games.

Theresa May made the commitment Wednesday, saying security teams were making preparations for "all eventualities".Tight screening measures at entrances to venues will aim to prevent tents being smuggled into them and police are under instruction to take quick action to remove any encampments.

May revealed that a pre-Olympics security operation had arrested 97 organized criminals for offenses relating to the Games.

Among those detained under the nationwide Operation Podium are alleged ticket touts, people setting up fake websites and others accused of selling bogus hotel rooms.

"Police are sending a very clear message that we're not going to tolerate intrusions by organized criminals into the Olympic Games," May said in a briefing.

"What I think is right is that we make plans for all eventualities. I can assure you the Metropolitan Police do have a robust attitude."

Fresh Blow for Olympic Stadium Legacy Plan

West Ham are said to be rethinking their plans to place another bid to take over the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium after the Games.

The east London club, which plays in English football's second-tier, want the Olympic Park Legacy Company to offer more information about bidding requirements. According to Britain's Times newspaper, their share of naming-rights revenue and identity of any co-tenants are among concerns.

West Ham reportedly spent more than $1 million on their first bid, which collapsed late last year following a legal challenge from rivals Tottenham and an anonymous complaint to the European Commission.

The club also want more clarity on the stadium bidding process before planning the sale of their current Upton Park ground.

Bids are due to the OPLC by a March 23 deadline. London Wasps rugby club are said to be considering a bid proposal to make the Olympic Stadium home.

Meanwhile, Olympics minister Hugh Robertson has told the government's Culture, Media and Sport Committee that a football club may one day own the Olympic Stadium outright.

The current objectives of the legacy company are to bring the stadium under public ownership post-Games, leasing it out to a football and possibly rugby club as well as for other entertainment events.

"It is not our intention that it should remain in public ownership indefinitely," Robertson said, adding that the agreement would protect the rights of UK Athletics to use the venue for major meets.

Robertson suggested there were some useful lessons to learn from the successful conversion of the City of Manchester Stadium that hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games into Manchester City's home ground, now called Etihad Stadium.

"If a football club was one of the legacy users and there should be a change of ownership in the future - and they should want to acquire the stadium in the future, that will certainly be built into the process," he told MPs. "There is no reason why it should be a public stadium forever and a day."

Road Cycling Test Event Triggers Changes for Spectators

LOCOG has given the green light to increase spectator capacity on one of the best vantage points of the Olympic cycling road race route.

Five months of detailed work, following the London Surrey Cycle Classic test event in August, have enabled the spectator capacity on the Zig-Zag Road incline and Donkey Green area of the route in the county of Surrey to increase from 3,500 up to around 15,000.

London 2012 organizers said access would be ticketed in line with its aims to provide fair access and safety at venues.

The rest of the route – which travels through six London boroughs, four Royal Parks and Surrey countryside, before heading back into central London for the finish on the Mall – offers spectators about 120km of road to watch the race for free.

LOCOG's director of sport Debbie Jevans said the change in capacity would give people the chance to see a generous amount of road race competition "at one of the best stretches of road which we are able to do following the test event and our learnings there".

Reported by Mark Bisson

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