ANTI-TERROR security for the Olympic Games in Athens has been dangerously compromised by building delays, a series of site inspections has revealed.

An assessment of the major construction projects in and around the city has shown that the Greeks are lagging further behind schedule.Building projects will not be completed in time for the Games without cutting corners on security and crowd safety, according to a leading British structural engineer retained by The Times.

The delays mean there will be less time to erect security fences, install CCTV and train security guards before the opening ceremony on August 13. Norman Train, a fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, said: “How do you train the volunteers and security guards? You can’t let them loose on a building site. Security is what will get squeezed. They will have to wait until construction is completed. With so many projects so far behind schedule, it is clear that not everything will be done by the start of the Games.”

Nato has received an official request to provide security for the Games after the Madrid bombings. Should any plane deviate from its route or enter the Olympic no-fly zone, immediate assistance will be sought from Nato. Nevertheless, almost 80 per cent of Greeks have told pollsters that they fear an attack is “inevitable”.

It was clear yesterday that the unfinished sites were already vulnerable: just four weeks after the Madrid bombings, there was no visible security at any of the major construction areas. Representatives of this newspaper were able to enter all but one unchallenged. At the main athletics stadium, a solitary guard waggled a cautionary finger before strolling back to his security shack.

A guard dog padded around the Faliro handball and Taekwondo pavilion on the coast, but ignored visitors. “Site security was lax,” Mr Train said. “It was possible to wander in and out. There were no perimeter fences as you would expect in Britain.”

Security experts fear that the exposed sites will be scouted by terrorists before the Games or that a device could be planted amid the chaos. Analysts are also worried about the main port at Piraeus, where eight cruise liners, including Queen Mary 2, will house 13,000 visitors. Jacques Rogge, the IOC president has acknowledged that “no one can guarantee 100 per cent security”.

Athens 2004 will not comment officially about security measures but a senior official told The Times: “As far as I know the CCTV and fencing are already prepared and the staff have done three or four security exercises. We feel confident about security. Of course it is one of our top priorities. We are working with the Ministry of Public Order.

“The security issue does not just concern us. There are other countries involved, including Britain, France, Israel, America, Germany and Spain. We are working very closely with Scotland Yard, the Australian police and the American CIA. All these things are also supervised by them. If there is a problem they should have spoken about it already. I do not think that we have a problem.”

Several top American athletes, including the tennis champion Serena Williams, have expressed fears about taking part.

US safety officials have offered athletes safety tips such as not wearing American colours when not competing. Many athletes say that they do not plan to venture far outside the Olympic Village. However, British Olympians dismissed fears about security and unfinished stadiums. The rowing champion, Matthew Pinsent, said: “I have no fears about taking part. I think Olympic athletes are going to be safer than they have any right to be.”

Paula Radcliffe, Britain’s best gold medal hope, has already been out to Athens to inspect the unfinished marathon route. She said: “It would be nice to have the new course finished but there is a course of sorts there now. Right now I am just focusing on training and being ready for whatever course I have to run on.”

A spokesman for the British Olympic Association said: “Clearly there are still issues that the organisation committee are tackling but they do tend to wait to finish as close to the Games as possible.

“We trust and expect those issues to be worked through and we expect to take a full team to what will hopefully be a very successful Olympics.”

Greece is the first country to host a summer Games since the September 11 attacks. It has been conspicuously rigorous about security but construction delays could sabotage its best-laid plans.

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