The humble hot dog van appears to be in the sights of the Food Standards Agency - FSA - who have revealed they have rented several sites across London in which to impound illegal (unlicensed) hot dog and ice cream vans - together with other vehicles used to supply food to the public.

The news will no doubt go down badly with such vendors, as the Olympics will be seen as a great opportunity to enjoy bumper profits. But the FSA say they wish to keep the food supply as hygienically delivered as possible, following in the footsteps of the Chinese food authorities, who tested over 16,000 food samples from food vendors around the Beijing's Olympic venus in 2008.

Some, however, will be quick to point out that contracts to supply food in and around the 31 Olympic venues will be worth a fortune, and the FSA is merely protecting their income.

It is perhaps likely that both public safety (after all, the government don't want thousands of sickly visitors in London this summer) and protecting the profit margins of big fast food firms , are big motivations for the crack down.

At least vendors who thought they were going to make a killing at the London Olympics can take some comfort in the fact that their van breakdown cover policy will be affordable - that is, if they choose startrescue.co.uk!