Man arrested and bailed over Olympic surveillance claims

A man was arrested and bailed by the police in the wake of allegations that Tottenham Hotspur football club spied on Olympic officials during the club’s bid for the 2012 stadium, it has emerged.

The 29-year-old was bailed until early next year pending further inquiries, a Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed.

Yesterday, Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) chair Baroness Ford claimed the north London football club had all 14 members of her board monitored by private investigators during its battle with rival West Ham for the stadium in legacy mode.

Spurs has denied the claims.

The Met police, which had been investigating the claims since August “following allegations by West Ham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company in respect of the unlawful obtaining of information”, said the suspect was arrested at an address in Sussex and taken into custody at a local police station.

The spokesman said: “As part of their inquiries, detectives have conducted searches at both a residential and business premises in Sussex, a second private address in Sutton, and a further business address in Westminster. An amount of material was seized during the searches.”

Tottenham denied Baroness Ford’s allegations and issued a statement through its lawyers stating: “The club did not undertake, instruct or engage any party to conduct surveillance on any member of the OPLC committee and we consider the making of this baseless accusation to be wholly inappropriate and irresponsible.”