£76m shaved off Olympics costs

Olympic chiefs have saved £76m on enabling works and infrastructure schemes on the London 2012 site.

The savings have helped to offset budget increases on showpiece jobs such as the main Olympic stadium and the Aquatics centre.

Latest official figures show £30m has been trimmed from the original £364m enabling works budget, with a further £46m shaved from the bridges and highways total.

The Olympic Delivery Authority said: "On site preparation, the forecast is £30m less due to the lower-than-expected levels of contamination and improved contractor performance.

"On the structures, bridges and highways projects, the four packages let so far - which represent around 70% by value of the total - were for values less than the pre-tender estimates.

"Despite pressures elsewhere, these savings have reduced forecast cost."