Tower Hamlets Olympic Challenge Dropped

Tower Hamlets, an east London council, has dropped legal proceedings against the London Olympic organisers, after claiming to have won concessions. 

The council had been calling for a judicial review after the route of the Olympic marathon was moved away from the east end.

Tower Hamlets argued that now that the route had been moved away, the borough had seen nothing but disruption from the games, with little chance of benefit.

However, the case has now been dropped after organisers promised 1,000 jobs would be offered to Tower Hamlets residents 72 hours before they are released to the rest of the employment market.

A media centre will operate in the borough during the games and children and young people from the area will be offered the first chance to take part in rehearsals.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman said: ‘we’re 100% behind London 2012 and want to make sure that our residents gain the maximum benefit from the games. They will have to put up with a lot of the disruption, so it’s only fair that they get to share in the experience and reap the rewards’.

The original route for the marathon was to start at Tower Bridge and run through Tower Hamlets and the East End, finishing in the Olympic Stadium but has since been moved to pass around local landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.

The walking race and basketball tournament have now been moved to Tower Hamlets.