London 2012 confirms vehicle screening plans for Westfield shopping centre

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has confirmed that it will be operating security checks on vehicles entering the public car parks at the new Westfield shopping centre in its first year of operation. Due to the centre’s proximity to the Olympic Park, the vehicle screening areas (VSA’s) will become operational from today until the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in September 2012.

LOCOG will be working with its security provider G4S to operate vehicle screening areas, providing security checks on vehicles. The screening areas will be similar to others which operate at shopping centres in secure areas and will be based at Warton Road, Penny Brookes Street and the Lea Interchange off the A12. Vehicles chosen to be searched will be directed out of the traffic flow to be checked before continuing their journey into Westfield car parks.

Over the last 10 months, London 2012 has undertaken a local consultation and communications programme aimed at local residents, especially in the Warton Road area, to ensure the plans have as little impact as possible on the daily lives of local residents.

LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton said, “Delivering a safe and secure Games is a key priority for everyone involved in London 2012. With Westfield so close to the Olympic Park and with vehicle access to it directly accessed from the Park, it is an obvious and important part of our security plans.

"We will make the checks as quick and unobtrusive as possible - we are confident that shoppers will recognise the need for us to be vigilant and carry out these checks. We are also committed to working with the local community to ensure that vehicle screenings have a minimal impact on their daily lives.”

The Westfield shopping centre is due to open on 13 September 2011 and will be one of the best connected shopping centres in the country. With over 4 million people within 45 minutes of the centre, Westfield Stratford City offers 5,000 car parking spaces and the latest parking guidance technology as well as unparalleled public transport links with seven train lines coming into Stratford.

Notes to editors:

A map showing the vehicle screening areas is available upon request

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As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-seven domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, NATURE VALLEY, Next, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster and Trebor.

There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games Partner, Sainsbury’s and one domestic Tier Three Paralympic Supplier, Otto Bock.

The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.