2012 chief focuses on positives despite budget fears

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton said fears over rising budgets should not detract from the city's progress towards staging the Olympics in six years.

Olympic Minister Tessa Jowell admitted last month that the projected cost of building the Olympic Park in East London had risen by about 40 percent to 3.3 billion pounds.

Some newspaper reports have said the final cost of putting on the two-week sporting festival and regenerating the area could be as high as 10 billion pounds.

However, speaking on BBC Radio, Deighton said London was in desperate need of a new sporting infrastructure.

''We've got the opportunity to redevelop the most undeveloped part of east London,'' Deighton said.

''We've got the chance to put in sports venues into the middle of London... I mean London's sporting facilities are a disgrace relative to the rest of the world and the rest of the United Kingdom, so using the Olympics as an excuse to build what we really should have anyway is a terrific thing.

''The public want value for money but I don't think we should be embarrassed about equipping London with highly appropriate sports facilities that most other cities already have...we shouldn't be embarrassed about investing in the most run down part of London.'' WELL AHEAD Deighton added that London was well ahead of schedule, despite claims by former Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chief Jack Lemley that not enough was being done.

''We are getting through the project milestones way ahead of comparable Olympics,'' Deighton said.

''We work very closely with some of the guys who put on the Games in Sydney, which was regarded as the most successful, and last week they said we are 14 months ahead of where they were.

''We have prepared the masterplan for the Olympic Park, we know where all the venues are going to be.

''We've also already announced our transport plan, which is the earliest that has ever happened.'' Lemley resigned in October, later saying that he was frustrated by political squabbling that he felt would delay the project and raise costs.

''I went there to build things, not to sit around and talk about it,'' the 71-year-old said at the time.

Reuters SAM GC1635