Wembley death threat plot

Workers at the new Wembley Stadium are being threatened with death in a £27 million extortion plot.

The company building the stadium has been told that crane drivers will be shot by snipers unless they give in to the demands.

The men work 200 feet up and their cabins are exposed on all sides. The stadium construction company Multiplex and Scotland Yard are taking the threat seriously.

The Met has ordered a major increase in security at Britain's biggest building site. The 90,000-seater stadium is due to be officially opened for next year's FA Cup final. Security is also being stepped up at two other Multiplex sites, the £500 million White City retail development and a major residential development in Knightsbridge.

It is believed the Russian mafia or a disgruntled contractor could be behind the plot, which is thought to originate in Australia. Multiplex, which has its headquarters in Australia, also built Sydney's Olympic Stadium.

Martin Tidd, managing director of Multiplex's UK operation, said they were taking all steps to ensure the safety of their workers.

He added: "I can't comment on the specifics of the threat because it's subject to an ongoing police investigation.

"The criminal threat was made in Sydney and that's why it's under New South Wales jurisdiction, but clearly we are treating it as a threat on a global scale."

Five cranes are in use at the Wembley site. Security experts fear that the network of roads and wasteland around the site would make it simple for a marksman to shoot and leave without being detected.

Scotland Yard said it was monitoring the situation to "minimise any potential risk".

A spokesman for manufacturing union, Amicus, which has 400 members working on the stadium, said: "We have had assurances from the police and from the company that every security precaution has been put in place."

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, said they had already met Multiplex officials. "We don't want to start scaring people and at this stage there's no reason to believe workers here are under threat but we have taken steps to ensure their safety," he said. The extortion attempt is being investigated by police in New South Wales. Detectives from Scotland Yard are liaising with them.

In Australia, crane operators stopped working and demanded urgent talks with bosses after the threat emerged.

Multiplex employs about 1,800 people throughout Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and the UK. It is already facing problems with the £757million Wembley project after warning it would probably only break even.

Construction of the stadium stopped last year because of a dispute with steel contractor Cleveland Bridge, which designed and built the signature arch, but Multiplex insists the project will be finished on time.