Police officers to be on duty during West Ham vs Chelsea

Officers to monitor London Stadium for first time

Metropolitan police will be on duty for the very first time inside the London Stadium next week after getting the go-ahead to patrol during West Ham’s game against Chelsea in the EFL Cup.

It’s thought a temporary ‘Airwave’ radio communications system has now been installed inside the former Olympic Stadium, with fears growing prior to this that a lack of officers were putting the supporters in danger with fights among West Ham’s own fans since the start of the season.

More than 50,000 fans are expected for the first major night match at West Ham’s new home. The fixture is likely to be assessed in the next few days by the force and will be seen as a high risk “Category B” or “Category C” game, with the Met under increasing pressure to make sure that they have officers stationed within the stadium.

In a statement, Chelsea said they were “disappointed” after they were allocated 5,182 tickets for the game.

Under competition rules, away teams are entitled to 10 per cent of the stadium’s large capacity.

Chelsea requested their full allocation – 5,700 tickets of the 57,000-capacity stadium. However, West Ham are restricted to allocating 5,200 ‘away’ tickets due to ‘infrastructure issues’.

By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10