London 2012: Police told to empty crisps into plastic bags to avoid advertising rival brands in Olympics It meant that Pc's protecting the millions of spectators expected to watch the events live at venues in and around London will be forced to empty their branded sandwiches, crisps and chocolate bars into unidentifiable packaging. With just days to go until the opening ceremony of the biggest sporting event in the world, police officers were up in arms over the absurd rule. A Police Federation member for Thames Valley Police, who are policing all rowing events for the Olympic and Paralypic Games at Dorney Lake, in Eton, Berks., said: "I'd like to see a security guard try to tell a police officer to empty his lunch into clear bags. They'd have to be very brave because the answer he'd get would be very short indeed. A Thames Valley Police spokesman said in a statement: "We are expected to comply with LOCOG requirements and therefore are not expected to enter the venue with any goods that do not reflect sponsors. This position will be briefed to all officers and staff, although operational effectiveness and any response to an incident will always be our priority. However, after LOCOG was made aware of the strict interpretation of their rules by Thames Valley Police chiefs and the discord of officers, they spoke to the police and issued clarification. "The revised guidance amounts to a major climbdown by our top brass who have realised they were taking the 'no branding or advertising' rules a tad too literally," said one police officer involved in the Dorney Rowing Lake events. It is a victory for commonsense - but if we hadn't kicked up a fuss, they would have had us decanting our crisps and pop into unmarked containers. A spokesman for LOCOG said that the rule had been put in place to stop unauthorised brands advertising at the Games and not to stop anyone enjoying the event. The spokesman said: "We wouldn't want to tell people what they can bring into the venues and what they can't. There are rules about brands which are aimed around advertising but petty things like food products aren't the target of it. The rule is there to stop the advertising of brands who are not authorised Olympic brands.