Sutton Guardian picks up Olympic torch relay figures

The Sutton Guardian have reported on local spending on the Olympic torch relay disclosed as part of Help Me Investigate’s investigation.

Mike Pyle writes that the local council paid £9,000 for the torch’s journey through the area. This covered stewards, barriers, road closures, road signs, St John Ambulance staff, street cleaning and publicity.

Those costs combined came to less than a fifth of the cost of bunting in the area, one of the highest in the country: £50,000 was used from another local government body to fund the decorations.

 

Pricing of LOCOG’s Olympic torch relay bunting beyond some councils

At least two councils hosting parts of the Olympic torch relay have not been able to buy official bunting from organisers LOCOG because of high prices – while the cost of bunting in a third local authority was quoted at five times that of road closures and stewarding equipment combined.

Both Highland Council and Iver Parish Council decided they could not justify the cost of the branded bunting, which has to be bought from the Olympic organising committee LOCOG. Continue reading