The shambles over Olympic Games security has been dismissed as nothing more than a hitch by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.

It was ‘completely normal’ for contractors to break their promises on major projects, according to the Cabinet minister.

He defended security giant G4S, which failed to recruit the 10,000-plus people needed to guard the Games, saying the company had been ‘quite honourable’.

Mr Hunt added: ‘They have put their hands up. Nick Buckles, the chief executive, has said they got it wrong. They have apologised, they are going to cover all the costs, he has apologised to the troops who are going to be drafted in at the last moment.’

But his remarks failed to assuage critics, including Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman, who said the government had taken its eye off the ball when it should have been most vigilant.

She added: ‘I think they have been dangerously incompetent on this.’

Mr Hunt and London 2012 chairman Lord Coe tried to calm the storm after 3,500 troops were called in to cover gaps left by G4S, which was paid £284million to guard the Games.

The culture secretary told the BBC it was a hitch, which had been dealt with.

He added: ‘It is completely normal that you are going to find some contractors on a project of this size who aren’t able to deliver what they have promised.’

Lord Coe added: ‘This actually wasn’t about supply. G4S have been interviewing about 100,000 people. The reality is, and I cannot put this any more simply, when they expected people to materialise, they simply didn’t. That is why we moved quickly to stem that gap.’

For more on this story go to: http://www.metro.co.uk/olympics/905239-jeremy-hunt-g4s-olympic-games-security-fiasco-completely-normal#ixzz20p99UwNz