London: A security firm in London said it conducted hundreds of searches for explosives by sniffer dogs at the Olympic Park, but those operations were never carried out, a media report said Friday.

The Sun said the operation was meant to stop terrorists from smuggling a bomb in a vehicle and setting it to detonate on a long-term timer at the Olympics site.

But security firm G4S faked the searches of traffic entering the park in Stratford in East London, for three years, the daily said.

Names of dog handlers on their days off were allegedly put down on shifts so that it looked like they were working. But no searches actually took place.

The daily said the alleged deception may have been carried out to avoid a 500-pound fine imposed by Olympic organisers LOCOG for every shift the firm could not cover.

The firm -- whose security contract is worth 284 million pounds -- is also said to have used dogs trained only to detect drugs because of a lack of animals able to sniff out explosives.

Two senior managers of the firm's dog section have been suspended, and the company is carrying out an internal probe. (IANS)

The irregularities surfaced during a recent internal review by G4S, which is also supplying more than 10,000 staff for the Olympics, and training all 23,700 personnel who will be on guard. (IANS)