OLYMPIC security in Weymouth and Portland has been challenging, fun, tiring and a great success, says police chief.

Senior managers from the police, fire, ambulance, military and Royal Navy are situated at the Silver Command centre in Dorset Police headquarters, in Winfrith, 24 hours a day coordinating the security operation.

Assistant chief constable of Dorset Police Adrian Whiting is also Police Gold Commander for the operation and chairman of the Local Resilience Forum Co-ordinating Group.

He said: “From our perspective it is progressing really well, certainly within the parameters we had planned for, we have had a very positive experience.

“We have seen reductions in the level of reported crime and positive action in terms of arrests and stopping things getting out of hand when people have had too much to drink, which is common in the summer.

“There haven’t been any real crowd safety issues, even on ‘Super Sunday’, when we had such high visitor numbers – people have been having a really terrific time.”

He added: “The majority of people are attending to celebrate, it’s a family orientated experience with quite a few sports fans and sailors and significant numbers of people here to celebrate Team GB.

“It has been great fun, very tiring and working with the public has been really positive.

“It’s great to see people from other countries celebrating their own team’s success and enjoying Dorset and hopefully they will want to come back in the future.”

CCTV from Weymouth control room is wired directly into the screens lining one of the walls as well as national news channels.

Regular updates about high-profile visitors to Dorset, such as celebrities and members of the royal family, come through so that the operational team are always aware of where they are during their visit.

Mr Whiting said: “The public will note a lot of officers from around the South West and Hampshire which demonstrates that although the badges differ there’s been no difficulty at all in pulling together from other areas.”

He added: “It’s been a real challenge to make sure that service as usual has continued to be delivered in other areas, especially with events such as Camp Bestival and the ongoing demand during the summer, which is always a busy period. There have been no major arrests.

“It’s a matter now for us to remain vigilant and maintain these standards right through until the end of the Paralympics in September.”