Tottenham outline plans to demolish Games arena

Spurs confirmed they will demolish most of the 80,000-seater athletics arena and replace it with a 60,000-capacity purpose-built football venue if they win the bid and decide to relocate from White Hart Lane.

As expected, the club said they would also revamp the Crystal Palace athletics stadium to fulfil the legacy commitment made when Great Britain was awarded the 2012 Games.

West Ham have long been favourites to take over the Olympic Stadium after next year's Paralympics, with their bid backed by both London 2012 chairman Lord Coe and UK Athletics.

The Hammers have waged a very public campaign, while Spurs only declared their hand yesterday, just over two weeks before the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) select their preferred bidder and less than two months before the final decision.

Spurs face serious fan opposition if they decide to relocate, but the cost of the so-called Northumberland Development Project is also continuing to escalate.

It is estimated to be 450m in total and the Olympic move would be around 200m cheaper.

Tottenham MP David Lammy, who is opposed to the Stratford move, branded the scheme a "diabolical waste of public money".

"It would be astonishing in these hard pressed times if the government and (London mayor] Boris Johnson will approve a bid that sees over half a billion pounds of public money down the drain after just a month," Lammy said in a statement.