Mayor Ken Livingstone may have signed a blank cheque to bring the Olympics to East London, according to the London Assembly member for Waltham Forest.

Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the assembly's culture committee, believes a funding deal agreed by the Mayor and the Government on Sunday may leave Londoners paying huge sums of money to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to Britain.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell agreed to the idea of part-funding the Olympics with every Londoner paying £20 towards the event.

Mrs Hillier said: "If the Government backs an Olympic bid, Londoners need to know exactly what they will be expected to pay and what they will get in return.

"Is the £20 a year a maximum or has the Mayor signed a blank cheque that Londoners and a future Mayor will be committed to honouring?

"As London will face most of the upheaval of planning for the Olympics, the funding deal must be transparent."

Londoners will be expected to pay almost half the £1.8 billion needed to fund the event.

The Olympic Village is expected to be built in Stratford. Waltham Forest Pool And Track, Chingford Road, Walthamstow, may also be used. There is growing opposition to the idea of bringing the Olympics to East London.

Katy Andrews, vice-chairwoman of the local Lammas Lands Defence Committee, said: "Most of Hackney Marshes, a huge expanse of common land which is home to dozens of amateur football and cricket teams, would be destroyed to build the Olympic Games infrastructure.

"Once lost, our open spaces will never be regained.

"For residents, this is not a question of sport or the Olympic ideal, but about whether we will allow our precious green valley to be destroyed for the sake of a 17-day media circus."

A report into the possibility of an Olympic bid was produced by developer Arup in November. It stated that 2012 was the best chance Britain had for hosting the Games.

January 30, 2003 13:00