Cops monitoring sex trade during Olympics?

London: Scotland Yard on Monday said it was keeping a close watch as reports claimed that London was `set to be flooded with prostitutes` during the forthcoming Olympics to cater to the thousands of visitors expected.

Reports in the tabloid press claimed that a large number of prostitutes were expected to be in London during the duration of the Olympics. According to the Daily Mail, some escort agencies were offering `Olympic escorts` and `gold medal` services, and that there was increased activity in east London near the stadium in Stratford. A Yard spokesman told a news agency that a dedicated Olympics team had been set up three years ago to deal with "all forms of trafficking that might be linked with the Olympics". He said, "As time has moved on we have not seen any rise in trafficking linked with the Olympics. This will be continually monitored and reviewed, while our ongoing operations and investigations regarding trafficking, unrelated to the Olympics, will continue". Scotland Yard carries out local enforcement operations in response to community concerns to deal with the negative impact on street prostitution has on local residents and to assist vulnerable women from breaking the cycle of offending, he added. No arrest figures are available for the five London boroughs in which the Olympics are to be held. According to a newspaper, escort agencies were "adopting the Olympic name, laying on extra women and offering special `gold medal services".