Strike on eve of Games called off
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A public sector strike involving border staff due on the eve of the Olympics has been called off by union officials.
The Public and Commercial Services union said the government had agreed to create hundreds of new jobs, although this is denied by the Home Office.
Thursday is expected to be Heathrow airport's busiest day ever as thousands of spectators arrive for the Games.
In the first event later, Britain's women footballers play in Cardiff, two days before the opening ceremony.
The Team GB women's football side will get 18 days of sport under way at 16:00 BST (15:00 GMT) against New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium.
Cameroon and heavily-fancied Brazil clash at the stadium after the GB game, and four other matches in the same competition are also taking place at Hampden Park in Glasgow and the City of Coventry Stadium.
In other Olympics news:
The launch of Games Lanes in London has caused confusion, with some of the lanes still open to everyone, and signs on some stretches apparently offering conflicting advice to motorists
The Emirates Air Line cable car service, over the Thames and linking two Games venues in Royal Docks, east London, and Greenwich, south-east London, was briefly suspended owing to "technical issues"
The Olympic flame visits Wembley Stadium as it travels 30 miles through the London boroughs of Harrow, Brent, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. Follow day 68 of the torch relay here, during which England's World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks, Rupert Grint of the Harry Potter films, and decathlete gold medallist Daley Thompson will be among the torchbearers
The final dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony is due to take place later at the Olympic Stadium, in Stratford, east London
Government lawyers had been due at the High Court on Wednesday seeking an injunction to prevent the PCS strike.
They were to argue there had been a "procedural error" in the union's ballot of its members, including immigration and passport workers.
But on Wednesday morning, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka announced the suspension of the strike after "major progress" in the dispute.
He said 800 new jobs were to be created in the Border Agency and 300 in passport offices.
Recruitment adverts had already been placed for the jobs at sites including Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports, the union added.
However, immigration minister Damian Green said he did not recognise the job figures announced by the union.
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There were, for example, more than 300 current vacancies in the passport service, which the union had been told were being filled, he said.
"So it's pretty clear that the union leadership needed some kind of fig leaf for their climbdown, and that's what they've done - and I'm glad they've done it."
The Olympic Route Network (ORN), made up of 175 miles of roads connecting up the main Olympic venues across the country, has come into force on Wednesday.
Traffic needs
It is designed to make it easier for athletes and officials to get around the Games and has seen junctions blocked off, bus stops moved and parking bays suspended.
As part of the ORN, designated Games Lanes in London are in operation between 06:00 BST (05:00 GMT) and midnight and only open to VIPs, athletes and accredited media.
The controversial Games Lanes can be turned on and off by Transport for London
Ordinary motorists going into the lanes face fines of £130.
But the Games Lanes are intended to be flexible to traffic needs, resulting in confusion among motorists on the A40 in west London on Wednesday morning at electronic signs suggesting they could use the lane alongside fixed signs warning that the Games Lane was being enforced.
Leon Daniels, Transport for London's managing director of surface transport, said people accidentally straying into the lanes would not automatically incur a fine.
He said: "We don't want enforcement, we want compliance. Nobody will be harshly dealt with if the Games Lane becomes activated after they pass it."
The  (PCS), the largest civil services trade union in the United Kingdom, yesterday reversed its decision to hold a strike for its  worker members scheduled for today, the day before the Olympic Games are due to start in London. The strike, which was called last week as a result of job reductions being made, would have affected the  (UKBA), the , and the , at  amongst other UK airports.

PCS   cited the "significant development" of the creation of 1100 new job positions, 800 in the UKBA and 300 in the Passport Service, as the reason for the union's decision change. "We believe that significant progress means that there is no case for the union to proceed with industrial action tomorrow," Serwotka said yesterday morning. The PCS also reported position recruitment advertisements appearing on the Internet for London Heathrow,  and .

However, the UK government's Home Office denied that they had created such positions. "We have made no concessions to the PCS and are not creating any new jobs in response to their threat of strike action", a spokesperson for the Home Office stated. Saying the recruitment effort, initiated two months ago, was amongst scheduled modifications to the , the spokesperson clarified: "Unfortunately, due to an administrative error, a figure of 400 posts was repeated in both adverts by mistake. This will now be corrected".

Serwotka's announcement was made one hour before lawyers representing the  had been due at the  to attempt to gain an injunction preventing the strike. According to the PCS, the government's plan was based on accusations that twelve staff members in Brussels and Paris became involved in the dispute despite the fact they would be unaffected. 

The PCS' decision was welcomed by airport operating company . "So far passengers arriving for the Olympics have had a smooth journey through Heathrow and it is great news that those arriving tomorrow can also expect a warm welcome to London and the Games", a spokeswoman for BAA said yesterday.   had considered the PCS' plans "opportunist and wholly unjustified". Serwotka said he had "absolutely no regrets" about his previous decision to call the strike.

The PCS has also postponed plans to launch a  initiative during the 2012 Summer Olympics.