G4S did not know of lack of staff

14 July 2012 Last updated at 04:17 ET

3,500 extra military servicemen will be needed to provide security at the Games

Senior managers at G4S only realised "eight or nine days ago", that they could not provide enough security guards for the London Olympics, the company's chief executive has said.

Nick Buckles told the BBC that problems in the recruitment and deployment process were only recently identified.

He also could not guarantee all the security staff spoke fluent English.

G4S will charge Olympic organisers Locog £280m, but says it will lose up to £50m on the contract.