West Ham United in new stadium bid

West Ham United Football Club (WHUFC) has confirmed that it is making a fresh bid to become the anchor tenant of London's Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Games.

The npower Championship club had been named as the Olympic Park Legacy Company's (OPLC) preferred bidder for the venue ahead Tottenham Hotspur Football Club last year.

However, the deal collapsed in October after the government confirmed that plans to sell the stadium to WHUFC would not proceed amid legal challenges over the initial process.

The Olympic Stadium, which will become the new national stadium for athletics, will now be leased to an anchor tenant but will remain in public ownership when it reopens in 2014.

WHUFC vice-chair Karren Brady said the club was submitting its bid ahead of today's (23 March) deadline imposed by the OPLC for final bids. A decision is expected in May.

Brady said: "From the outset it has been my firm, unwavering belief that the stadium can truly become a multi-use destination of which east London and the nation as a whole can be proud.

"We have not taken this decision lightly and I should be clear that any move to the Stadium is conditional on the fact that it must provide an arena that is fit for world-class football and feels like home to our deserving fans."

Details: www.whufc.com

Image: David Poultney/LOCOG