VISITORS, residents and businesses are being warned to expect ‘business as unusual’ during the Olympic period and urged to make preparations now in terms of accommodation, travel, transport and deliveries.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is responsible for hosting the sailing events and the official 4,600-a-day capacity ticketed site proposed at the Nothe – subject to planning approval – while the local authorities, emergency services and their partners are in charge of ‘city operations’, in addition to securing and managing the competition’s 35 square kilometres of open water space.

Simon Williams, head of the Weymouth and Portland 2012 Operations Group, said: “It’s one year to go – it’s getting really scary as there’s still an awful lot to do but we’re on the case.

“Weymouth and Portland is the only venue outside London to have the whole gamut of the Olympic and Paralympic Games coming here.

“For a small borough on the south coast of Dorset it’s huge, and managing the crowds and expected visitor numbers is what we’re about.”

He added: “The big test for us will be what happens if Ben Ainslie is heading for gold, it’s a sunny day and half of Bristol decides to come to Weymouth?

“It’s not like the Olympic park with a capacity number of seats.

“With the greatest respect to Stratford not many people would go there for a general sunny afternoon.

“We’ve spent quite a long time saying to our London colleagues ‘We’re different – people come here for a day out and a water resort experience’.

“But we have a record of managing large crowds – the Tall Ships Race in 1994 and the annual Weymouth Carnival when we get 50,000 people.

“We want people to be saying ‘What an amazing Olympic experience’.

“The challenge for us is to use the Games as a catalyst for change, to attract business and investment we also want a fantastic time and a huge party.”

Find out more about advice for preparations at dorsetforyou.com/London2012