Bungling G4S handed the keys to the Royal Mint

IT FAILED to provide enough guards for the 2012 London Olympics and ripped off taxpayers by charging for ‘phantom’ electronic tags on criminals who were either dead or in jail.

But security giant G4S will shortly be handed the keys to the Royal Mint, making it the first private sector company to guard the official coin maker in its 1,130-year history.

From next month, the firm’s security officers, including ex-Gurkhas, will work at Llantrisant in South Wales, patrolling the Royal Mint and its visitor centre. The three-year contract, with an optional two-year extension, is worth approximately £800,000 per year – or up to £4m in total.

The Royal Mint was set up in 886 under the reign of Alfred the Great and in 1968 moved from Tower Hill in the City of London to Wales, being fully based in Llantrisant since 1980.

Employing more than 900 people, the Mint can produce nearly five billion coins a year.

G4S will take over security duties from the Ministry of Defence and the contract will come as a boost after a string of scandals in recent years such as the 2012 Olympics gaffe.

It also landed itself in hot water after it emerged it had been overcharging taxpayers for the tagging of criminals.

The world’s biggest security firm, which employs 610,000 people including 40,000 in the UK, billed the government for needless electronic monitoring. It paid back more than £110m to settle the issue.

The security giant was also reprimanded by a judge in April after running up huge parking fines and trying to use them to cut its tax bill. The company tried to avoid £580,000 in corporation tax from December 2007 to December 2010 by claiming parking fines were a legitimate business expense.

The Royal Mint has stepped up security following the opening of its visitor centre last year.

David Bowles, its director of supply chain, planning and security, said: ‘From July 2016, we will be proud to welcome G4S Gurkha Services as our new security providers – a highly trained, professional, ex-military team who bring with them over 200 years of practical operational experience and service to the British Army.’