Mayor warns of 2012 venues change

The Mayor wants decisions made in the next few weeks

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has acknowledged some of the venues for the 2012 Olympics might have to be moved.

Mr Livingstone said key decisions have to be taken in the next few weeks, with increased security levels a priority in light of the London bombings in July.

"We're going back now, looking at it all in the light of the bombings," he told BBC News 24.

"I think we should change this. The deal we do in the next few weeks is then the project we carry forward."

Mr Livingstone did not name specific venues, but hopes tackling potential problems now will prevent disruption in the future.

This is something that we want to deal with now 2012 Chairman Lord Coe

"Can we reconfigure some of those things so that we can all save money, that we can work with the local and neighbouring developments to integrate it all better?" he added.

"What killed Olympics in the past is politicians and sports people coming along after two or three years, saying 'oh I've had a new idea'.

"But once we've done those deals over the next few weeks and have got the IOC's backing for that, then that's the scheme we take forward."

Guide to 2012 Olympics venues

Lord Coe, Chairman of London 2012, confirmed to News 24 that discussions about potential venue changes were taking place.

"As the Mayor has quite properly said, this is a partnership approach," he said. "We have to make sure that all this fits in.

"It's a big jigsaw. It's a multi-faceted project and, as Ken has said, it's very important to get all these things nailed down at the very beginning.

"The things that have caused grief over a seven-year implementation phase is when actually the strategy has consistently and continually changed. This is something that we want to deal with now."