Locog missed G4S's corner-cutting says insider

Thousands of extra troops have been drafted in to provide security for the Olympic Games.

An insider from the committee organising the Olympics (Locog) has told Newsnight that they failed to deal with the problems at G4S despite warnings over the last 18 months.

The individual, who does not want to be named, said: "G4S have been appalling."

He claims those in charge of Locog's security were "amateurish" and it was a mistake using one company to supply staff.

Newsnight put these allegations to Locog and they have not responded.

The insider says Locog's event services division used a number of contractors to supply thousands of stewards and that has worked well but the security division put all its eggs in one basket.

"It was the wrong strategy, to use only one company."

He also says that there was inadequate scrutiny.

"They couldn't spot when contractors were cutting corners."

The insider who has worked in security for many years asserts that "at the top level" the management of security at Locog was "thoroughly amateurish and incompetent".

Watch the full report on <link> <caption>Newsnight</caption> <altText>Newsnight</altText> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk25" platform="highweb"/> </link> on Monday 16 July 2012 at 2230 BST on BBC Two. Or afterwards on BBC iPlayer and the Newsnight website.