UK offices adding staff to handle Olympic influx

With hundreds of Chinese tourists expected to descend on England for the London Olympics, the UK's visa offices in China are bracing to handle the rush by increasing the size of their embassy staff.

In a UK visa workshop earlier this week in Beijing, Matt Heath, regional manager of the UK Border Agency, said 150 additional visa officers will start working next month at 12 visa application centers in China.

"We added 90 officers in 2011, and this year the figure will go up to 150," Heath said. "The move is intended to control the waiting time within 15 working days even during the summer peak."