Londoners lose fight to prevent Olympic missiles

London residents on Tuesday lost their court battle to prevent the government placing surface-to-air missiles on the roof of their apartment block during the Olympics. Residents of the Fred Wigg Tower, near the Olympic Park in east London, fear it could make them the target of a potential terrorist attack. But a High Court judge ruled on Tuesday that the occupants of the 17-storey building, one of six sites where missiles may be stationed from mid-July until the end of the Games, did not have an arguable case. Judge Charles Haddon-Cave said residents had expressed "shock, anxiety and worry" over the prospect of missiles being stationed at the tower, but had been under "something of a misapprehension" about the risks deployment would bring. He agreed with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that a tower block would be an appropriate site. On Monday, the residents' lawyer Marc Willers had accused Defence Secretary Philip Hammond of breaching the European Convention of Human Rights by ordering the deployment. Residents had a "fully justified fear" that the missiles would turn the tower into a target for terrorists, Willers told the court. But Hammond's lawyer David Forsdick said top MoD officials, intelligence agencies and London's Metropolitan Police had all rejected the possibility of an attack on the block. Rapier and high velocity missile systems will be installed at six locations from mid-July and will remain there throughout the Games, the MoD has said. Other steps being taken to protect the Olympics include mooring a helicopter carrier in the River Thames and stationing RAF Typhoon jets and Puma helicopters on the outskirts of London.er peacetime security force of more than 40,000, backed by a huge intelligence operation, will also guard venues, athletes and the millions of visitors expected to throng the British capital. The MoD has said the missiles would only be used in the event of "specific orders from the highest levels of government in response to a confirmed and extreme security threat."