The Australian newspaper printed a photograph on its front page of workers sweeping seats inside the Olympic stadium and a shot of the inside of the Olympic aquatic centre.

Extraordinary security measures, costing billions of dollars, are in place to safeguard the Olympics from the threat of global terrorism.

"As the Greeks race to put the finishing touches to venues, photographers for The Australian easily defied security arrangements to snatch the first pictures of the stadium and the Olympic pool," the newspaper said in its story accompanying the photographs.

"Amid the construction and confusion, performers and technicians run through rehearsals for the opening ceremony.

"Fencing and security cameras are not yet fully in place, and in recent few days armed guards have not been overly concerned about unauthorised visitors wandering around, mingling with the workers or taking a sneak peak at a test run of equipment.

"Security is a major concern and construction delays have experts concerned, despite the declaration by chief Athens Olympics organiser Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki that all venues for the Games were complete."

The Australian said while venue areas should have been secured and checked weeks before for bombs or breaches, the presence of workers rushing to finish in time has made it next to impossible.

"Metal detectors are still being installed around the main stadium grounds and guards began bag searches and using some detectors only in the past 48 hours.

"International workers at some of the venues said yesterday that the security sweep conducted a few days ago was "a bit of a joke" revealing that workers remained on site while checks were conducted."

Greece will have 70,000 guards in place by the opening ceremony on August 13, including 10,000 members of the armed forces and 60,000 police.