London Mayor Boris Johnson today pulled the plug on plans to fly 18 Gordon Ramsay chefs over to China for the Beijing Olympics.

The chefs were due to provide catering for visitors and guests at London House, a venue in Beijing devised by previous Mayor Ken Livingstone to promote London during the Games.

But, in his first meeting of the Olympic Board, Johnson will outline a number of cost-cutting plans, including scrapping the catering scheme.

“The Olympic Games are important to London, as is our presence during the Beijing Games, but I want to ensure every aspect is kept under tight financial control,” he said.

“There were some pretty unrealistic things planned, which would have cost a lot of taxpayer money, but which would have had marginal value to Londoners.”

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By Daniel Thomas

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