London 2012 Olympic Park in Stratford 'nearly ready'

Image caption, Work on the Olympic Park is ahead of schedule

The London 2012 Olympic Park is "nearly complete", the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said.

Olympic chiefs spoke after examining the cycling stadium in Stratford, east London, which is now 90% complete and expected to be the first venue ready.

The 6,000-seater velodrome - one of numerous stadiums toured during the recent three-day inspection - should be complete by early 2011.

The IOC described the tour as "very satisfactory".

Denis Oswald, chairman of the inspectors, said: "The fact that so many facilities are completed or nearly completed is excellent for us.

"With more than a year-and-a-half to go, these London facilities are nearly complete.

"Certainly you are even ahead of time and this is very satisfactory in comparison to previous experiences we have had."

The Greek authorities faced a race against time to get the Athens Olympic Park ready for the 2004 games.

With 140 days before the games, only 24 out of 39 venues were completed.

But Mr Oswald described the tour of London as "very positive so far".

More than 75% of building work on the 拢9.3bn Olympic park is now finished.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe, tour guide for the inspection, said it was a "very busy and very productive" experience.