Probe into rising costs of Olympic Stadium ordered

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has ordered an independent inquiry into the Olympic Stadium as conversion costs have now risen another £51m.

The move comes as it was revealed the costs have jumped to £323m from £272m with Khan expressing concern at the ongoing ballooning cost of turning the Olympic Stadium – now the London Stadium – from an athletics venue into a multi-purpose 60,000-seat venue for West Ham United FC.

The price of retractable seating, installed to improve the view for football, is one of the main factors cited for the latest cost rise. The cost of the seats is said to have risen from an estimated £300,000 to £8m.

Khan said: “I am deeply concerned by the serious financial issues with the Olympic Stadium.

“It has emerged that my predecessor oversaw a dramatic increase in costs as well as a series of poor decisions. In short, he left a complete financial mess.”

Balfour Beatty was originally in charge of converting the stadium under a £190m contract.

Work on the stadium conversion originally began in January 2014 on behalf of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). What was originally a £154m contract increased by £36m as additional money was called for as the scope of works increased and complications with the roof arose. The full cost was finally set at £272m last year.

Practical changes and works that were completed during the conversion included the installation of the world’s heaviest anti-gravity roof which is twice the size of the original, as well as reintegrating lighting towers within the stadium.

Sustainable measures included the reuse of more than 6,000m of cable, 3,800 lights and 1,000 mechanical and electrical components as well as the use of 19,000 tonnes of recycled demolition material.

At its peak, the project employed more than 1,700 people on site, culminating in 3.4 million man hours worked.

In light of the announcement of the investigation, David Edmonds, chairman of the LLDC resigned from his post. Edmonds, who has been a director of the company that controls the Olympic Park since 2009, offered his resignation to Mayor Khan on Wednesday evening.

The LLDC confirmed the news in a statement released Thursday, although it did not explicitly cite the new inquiry as Edmonds’ reason for stepping down. David Goldstone, chief executive of the LLDC, said: "David has made an enormous contribution to the legacy of the London 2012 Games and he has helped to steer the organisation through some extremely challenging issues. We thank him for all his hard work and wish him well in the future."