91Èȱ¬

The deadline for organisations hoping to take over the Olympic Stadium site after the London 2012 Games has now passed.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), which is overseeing the process, would not say how many firms had expressed interest in the east London arena

The OPLC is hoping to select a tenant by March 2011.

West Ham United Football Club and AEG, which runs the O2 Arena, are both in the running, the 91Èȱ¬ understands.

West Ham is the Premier League club based closest to the Olympic stadium site in east London.

Players, including Scott Parker, Carlton Cole and Mark Noble, will deliver the club's joint bid with Newham Council to run the stadium to 10 Downing Street later.

Companies have had six weeks to make a formal bid and the deadline passed at noon on Thursday.

"We will take time to review the bids and we shall make an announcement in due course," an OPLC spokesperson said.

Margaret Ford, chairwoman of the OPLC, said: "We aim to have selected a tenant by the end of the financial year."

The OPLC has previously said the winning bidder must retain the stadium as a "distinctive physical symbol" and support the regeneration of the area.

The stadium was designed to give future operators the option of reducing its capacity.