FELTHAM will be home to hundreds of military security officers during the Olympics, it has emerged.
About 800 extra staff will be based at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) site in Elmwood Avenue, a short hop from Feltham Pond, during the Games.
They will carry out security checks at west London venues like Earls Court, where the volleyball will be based, and Wimbledon, for the tennis.
The grounds are already used by members of the intelligence service, as the Defence Geographic Centre, but MoD bosses refused to reveal how many staff work there or give details of their role because it is too sensitive.
The extra staff, part of the Joint Forces Intelligence Group, will be based in temporary accommodation at the site until the end of the Olympics, on August 12.
There are no plans to accommodate staff during the Paralympics, which run from August 29 to September 9, but the temporary centre will be kept open as a ‘contingency’.
A spokeswoman for the MoD said the site had been chosen due to its proximity to a number of west London Olympic venues.
“We have well developed plans to engage with and inform local authorities, landowners and the community to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum at all times,” she added.
“Engagement has already begun with a number of local residents and this will continue up to and throughout the Olympic period.”
Another 400 military officers are due to be based at Hounslow Cavalry Barracks, in Beavers Lane, Hounslow, during the Olympics.
Feltham and Heston MP Seema Malhotra said it was important the MoDkept residents informed about building noise and the potential impact on traffic during the Olympics.
She added that it was particularly important businesses did not lose out during the Games due to road closures and traffic.
The MoD plans to deploy about 8,500 staff to London this summer to support the police and LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games), with the majority to be based around the Olympic Park, in east London.
