London 2012 Olympic Venues Security Costs Treble

It has been revealed that British taxpayers are paying out a monumental £250,000 ($391,502) fee a day on security to protect the Olympic venues

With construction already completed on five of the arenas the cost of providing security for them has dramatically increased. The new figure is more than treble what it cost to look after the venues a year ago.

According to Sky News sources, it cost the Government a total of £35m ($54.8m) to protect the sites in 2011. In September alone it cost a staggering £7.5m ($11.7m).

The money is being spent on security guards, fencing and screening of staff going in and out of the venues.

The cost of securing the venues come as these stunning pictures reveal how work in the nine venues is nearing completion with less than 250 days until the start of the Games.

Designers completed work on the Olympic Stadium in March following an operation that cost £486 million ($761.2m). The Olympic Stadium was the second major venue on the Olympic Park to be finished, after the Velodrome was unveiled in February. The 6,000-seat venue will play host to the main cycling events and reportedly cost Olympic chiefs around £93m ($145m), less than the initial forecast.

Another venue that has been opened by London 2012 officials is the Aquatics Centre, which will welcome the world’s best swimmers, with British hopeful Tom Daley looking to add to his two gold medals which he won at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The £269 million ($421m) wave-shaped venue, was the fifth and final venue to be finalised after more than160,000 tonnes of soil was dug out to make way for the structure.

The iconic stadium which houses two 50 metre pools and a diving pool, can seat 17,500 spectators during the Games but will revert to a 2,500-seat facility after the competition.

Meanwhile, the 12,000-seat basketball arena was completed, a mere 15 months after building work began.

It will host men’s and women’s group matches in the basketball competition, as well as the women’s quarter-finals. The rest of the knockout stages will be held in the O2 Arena in Greenwich. Standing at 35metres high, the venue is set to be dismantled after the Games despite its impressive and unique structure.