Olympic boss wants drug searches

The Tory former sports minister urged the Government to introduce new laws to "prevent cheats from reaching the starting line" at the London Games.

Lord Moynihan said that under current law, no enforcement officer could obtain a search warrant to enter the athletes' village for such a purpose.

During the second reading debate of the Powers of Entry Bill in the Lords, he urged ministers to bolster police powers so they could look not just for illegal substances such as heroin but also performance-enhancing drugs.

He told peers: "English law as it stands and is applied to the Olympic Games does not offer a solution which would allow anti-doping authorities to obtain a warrant to enter and search a room in the Olympic Village where a breach of the wider code is reasonably suspected or – just as, if not more, important – premises nearby or elsewhere in England where it is suspected that blood doping activity is taking place."

He added: "It's time to ... bring forward primary legislation to ensure that we lead the world in anti-doping of sport."

Lord Moynihan said he would attempt to amend the Powers of Entry Bill during committee stage to include his proposals.

Earlier this month, the British Athletes Commission warned that random drugs searches during the 2012 Games would be "utterly disastrous".