G4S took another body blow yesterday, as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police revealed they were shelving plans to outsource services such as HR and IT.

A joint statement said that the potential contract did not deliver what they needed. It is expected that they will explore shared services arrangements to make cost savings and simultaneously protect frontline services.

Despite the Olympic fiasco, G4 had continued to pick up public sector contracts at home and abroad, with rumours that it would be blacklisted from so far proving unfounded.