An annual charity tug-of-war has been cancelled amid the G4S Olympic security crisis.

G4S Gurkha services, based in Sutton, was due to hold its annual tug-of-war event today in Manor Park, Sutton, in support of the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

But it was announced yesterday the event had been postponed.

A source said the crisis over G4S's failure to fulfill its Olympic security contract meant all its other activities had to be put on hold.

They said: "It's all hands on deck, we can't be seen to be having fun with all the Olympic stuff going on."

Up to 20 teams of G4S staff have taken part in the tug-of-war in Manor Park in previous years.

Bhat (Gurkha curry) and refreshments is laid on for competitors.

But it was felt the event could not go ahead while G4S was accused of letting the country down just two weeks before the Games It emerged on Wednesday - 16 days before the start of the Olympics - that contractor G4S did not have enough trained security staff to fulfill its £284m Olympic deal.

The world's biggest private security firm was contracted by the London 2012 Organising Committee to supply 10,400 staff out of the 23,700 security staff needed for the Games.

It currently only has 4,000 in place. It says a further 9,000 people are going through the final stages of extensive training, vetting and accreditation.

Amid fears there will be insufficient numbers of trained staff in place in time for the Games as a result, 3,500 extra British Army troops have been drafted in to fill the empty security guard places.

Soldiers have been forced to cancel family holidays to ensure venues are protected.

G4S Gurkha Services, one of the largest employers of ex-Gurkha servicemen and women, intend to reschedule the fundraising tug-of-war, but no date has been set.

A G4S spokesman said: "Sadly, owing to a combination of poor weather and operational commitments we have had to postpone the annual tug of war competition."

For nearly 200 years the Gurkhas have helped fight Britain's wars and keep the peace.

The Gurkha Welfare Trust provides financial, medical and community aid to alleviate hardship and distress among Gurkha ex-servicemen.