Two weeks

West Ham discover if they have been awarded use of the Olympic Stadium "within two weeks", according to latest speculation.

A decision as to whom should be granted preferred bidder status was expected at the beginning of October but delayed once again over a dispute regarding funding the conversion costs.

However it has been revealed that the club - who remain strong favourites to receive the backing of the London Legacy Development Corporation, with whom responsibilty for the decision lies - should finally discover whether they have been given the green light to move to Stratford by the end of the first week of November.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson, speaking yesterday said: "It is now such an iconic building. The Olympic and Paralympic Games have established the stadium as a iconic building for use.

"I am relatively relaxed about [negotiations] and can afford to be because it is not my negotiation. [However] there is no danger of it being empty or a white elephant.

"It will not stay empty. We already have a World Athletics Championships in 2017 and a series of small athletics competitions coming in the years before that.

"It is very likely that even if that was the only use of it, an event management company would come on side and use it for concerts and a host of other things - but clearly many of us would like to see a football club in there because that would get it used once a fortnight at least."