Bakers might have been thrown a lifeline on producing goods to celebrate the Olympics thanks to the government.

Much has been said about the strict copyright rules surrounding London 2012, with some store owners already forced to remove items resembling the Games’ logo. However, it now seems officials have seen sense and Hugh Robertson, the Olympics minister, has said he wants to see proportional enforcement. Asked if he wanted to see prosecutions for bakers and small shop owners who marked the Games by displaying their own products, Robertson said: "No."

He added: "I gave the commitment in Parliament when the Act came through that this would be carried out in a sensible and proportionate way and I stick by that. You can only decide on a case by case basis no one has been prosecuted yet."

Nearly 300 ’enforcement officers’ are due to start patrolling around venues nationwide to ensure traders are not illegally associating themselves with the Games. But, despite an apparent weakening of copyright resolve, Mike Holling, chairman of the National Association of Master Bakers (NAMB), warned bakers to err on the side of caution. "It’s good that the government seems to have seen some common sense," he said. "But the NAMB has been aware of these strict rules for some time and has alerted members to them."