Youths trained for 2012 security

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Up to 6,000 teenagers could be trained to provide security during the 2012 Games, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games said.

The committee said it is in talks with 50 colleges to set up Level 2 BTec diploma courses for 16 to 19-year-olds.

They will be given 30 hours of training on communication, keeping people safe at events and crowd control.

A spokesman said the students will form "a part of the multi-layered security provision" for the 2012 Olympics.

'Practical experience'

The plan to train students come days after Home Office minister Lord West said the Olympics and Paralympics present the UK's "greatest security challenge" since World War II.

The committee spokesman said: "We are talking to colleges on how we can work with students to create opportunities for young people to learn skills and get practical experience about being part of our security provision.

"It is wrong to suggest that security will only be provided by new trained students."

Speaking at a conference on Olympic security on Friday, Lord West said: "Our security plans have to strike a balance between visible security and the welcome that we want.

"There is no doubt that the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games promises to be the greatest Games in history - and possibly the greatest security challenge the UK has faced since the Second World War."