Surrey firms have won 90 per cent of the value of all Olympic contracts in the south-east.

In a speech to Surrey’s business community, Councillor Ian Lake praised the county’s firms for winning the contracts and urged others to make the most of the once in a lifetime opportunities being presented by London 2012.

He said: “Without doubt the Olympic and Paralympic Games are the greatest show on earth.

“A huge amount of money is being spent on the Olympics in this country and Surrey’s businesses have secured a significant share of that money for our local economy.

“Hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors are expected to come and watch the Games and they will use this as the basis of a holiday experience in this country.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to show them the warmth and hospitality that we have in abundance and have them coming back for more.”

Surrey County Council has been working hard to persuade Olympic and Paralympic teams to base in Surrey because it would benefit the local economy.

Surrey Sports Park, in Guildford, already has a number of teams signed up to train there, including Nigeria, Singapore and Croatia.