THE minister for crime and security James Brokenshire has praised measures put in place to ensure safety during the Olympics and Paralympics in Weymouth and Portland.

He also spoke of the ‘incredible’ beauty of Dorset during a visit to the borough to witness home Games preparations.

Mr Brokenshire took to the waters of Weymouth Bay to watch a demonstration by Dorset marine police officers using ‘running gear entanglement’, commonly known as ‘net guns’ to stop a powerboat.

The Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup was shown the Fields of Play in Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay where the Sailing competitions will be held.

He also took a tour of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, accompanied by Chief Superintendent David Griffith, sailing competition manager Rob Andrews and academy chief executive John Tweed.

Mr Brokenshire said: “The message I’ve got loudly and clearly from all the different partners, from the local authority to the police to representatives of the Navy and London Organising Committee (LOCOG) representatives, is that they are ready for the Games here in Dorset.

“They are very much looking forward to the events that are coming through very rapidly.

“We’ve very much having a layered approach to security.

“The first phase of response will be stewards on behalf of LOCOG but we equally recognise that we need to be prepared for different levels of threat which could escalate potentially to military capability with HMS Bulwark based off the coast here.”

Mr Brokenshire said his relative ‘Commodore Brokenshire’ used to head up the local sea cadets and he was very familiar with this ‘wonderful area for tourism’.

He added: “I’m sure people coming here this summer will not only enjoy a huge celebration of sport, something that will bring people together, but also what an amazing place this is to visit.

“Whether the Olympics is here or not this part of Dorset is incredible and hopefully many, many visitors will really savour this.”

Mr Brokenshire said excitement for the ‘greatest sporting show on earth’ was set to grow this week with the arrival of the Olympic torch to the United Kingdom, which would visit Weymouth and Portland on July 12 and 13.

He said that he was sure many heads of state, leaders of Government and VIPs coming to the UK for the 2012 Games would visit the borough.

Chief Superintendent Griffith, head of local security preparations, emphasised it was a sporting event with security around it, not the other way around.

He said: “We’ve had people training here since January.

“I’m pleased with how preparations are going but there’s still a lot to do.

“The most impressive bit is that all the partners, including the navy, local authority, ambulance and fire service, are just working so well together. That for me will be the legacy.”