The agents will pass on anything members of the IOC are heard to say about London's chances ahead of the final vote next year ­ as well as the opinions of committee members on the proposals by Paris, Rio de Janeiro and other rivals.But Mr Mills, chief executive of the London team, insisted: "As far as we are concerned, there will be no dirty tricks We will certainly not go around rubbishing any other bid. It would be counter-productive."Mr Mills, inventor of the Air Miles and Nectar card reward schemes, said: "There are new rules now and we are still learning them. Since then, it has emerged that a global network of experts on sports politics has been enlisted to gather intelligence for London. It includes John Boulter, a former athlete who speaks fluent French and has worked as a senior executive for Adidas and Reebok. The team attempting to win the 2012 Olympics for London has recruited special advisers to be its "eyes and ears" around the world, feeding back information on rival campaigns. But there will be "no dirty tricks", insists Keith Mills, who is leading the London campaign. No city is allowed to criticise its rivals publicly or reveal detrimental information about their plans under new rules introduced by the International Olympic Committee in the wake of the Salt Lake City scandal.

The mayor of Paris and Tony Blair have already been warned against electioneering by the IOC.Details of London's campaign were launched on Friday. Fortunately the man who formed the Air Miles high club is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, and there is no doubt he will be quick to stamp on those of any bandwagoning politicians who get too carried away too soon.. That is a priceless asset."London has certainly taken a giant leap forward, but Mills knows that any hint of arrogance or the sort of premature triumphalism that was the ruination of England's last football World Cup bid could cost London dearly. He has two huge advantages - one is his management skills and knowledge of business, and the other is his ability to remain calm surrounded by a group of absolutely dynamic tyros. It is a balanced and compact package, and one that I feel will play to the new vision of the IOC, which is a Games that delivers all the flair they got from Barcelona and Sydney in a sensible and secure environment."Insiders - and outsiders - are deeply impressed with the way Mills, with no previous experience of sports administration, has taken charge of the nuts and bolts of the operation. They are clearly very concerned about security, and that is one of our real strengths."I think with this bid we have the right balance between new infrastructures, world-class facilities and London landmarks that people around the world will immediately recognise on TV.

He agrees, but adds: "Someone said to me the other day that now we've jumped into a taxi and caught up with the others As of now we are all on a level plane. Ours is a fresh, new bid and one that I believe will appeal to the IOC."In the current climate I think the IOC are looking for a professional bid and a really safe pair of hands. Mills terms the London bid, with its projected transformation of the East End and use of iconic sites, "stunning". "I had no preconceived ideas when I arrived here and I am used to doing things from standing starts, but the scale and complexity of the project is enormous."When Mills took over it was generally perceived that London had been slow out of the starting blocks. Pacing ourselves over the next 18 months is going to be critical, and when the IOC look into our eyes they need to believe that what we say is going to happen, will happen."Which is why the sighs of relief were almost audible in Covent Garden's stalls when Blair pledged the Government's "total and absolute" support for the 2012 cause. Now we just hope everyone will play by the rules, because we intend to. Says Mills: "When you put new rules into place they are open to interpretation, and that is what has been happening in the past few weeks.

Both the British prime minister and the mayor of Paris have been "yellow-carded" by the IOC for supposed electioneering. We want to work with the IOC to make sure that the bidding process is fair and equal."Conscious of the corruption that has bedevilled the bidding process for previous Olympic bids, the IOC have set out new guidelines. It was clearly marked: Do Not Bend.It is a philosophy he insists London's bid will follow to the letter. "As far as we are concerned there will be no dirty tricks," he says "We will certainly not go around rubbishing any other bid It would be counterproductive There are new rules now, and we are still learning them. We want to run a completely ethical bid but we also need to ensure that London is not disadvantaged in what is clearly going to be a global lobbying exercise. It was there last week that Mills, who heads a team of 70, sealed the buff envelope containing the 25-page document detailing London's proposals for staging the Games which was delivered to the IOC in Lausanne on Wednesday.