Sadiq Khan orders inquiry after cost of converting Olympic Stadium rises by £51 million

London Mayor launches investigation after learning the conversion cost has risen by £51 million

Mr Khan ordered the investigation after finding out the conversion cost had soared from by £51 million (Adam Davy/PA)

The mayor of London has called for an investigation into the finances of the Olympic Stadium after it was revealed the cost of converting the arena for West Ham United has risen by £51 million.

Sadiq Khan ordered the investigation after finding out the conversion cost had soared from £272 million to £323 million.

It comes as Sky News reported that the estimated cost of moving “retractable” seats is one of the factors behind the rise, as it emerged the job of moving them is largely manual and will take longer than initially expected.

The cost of the seats, installed to improve the view for football, has reportedly risen from an estimated £300,000 to £8 million.

It has also emerged that the operation of moving them could take longer than expected, with engineers saying it will 15 days at the end of the football season and 15 days to replace them after the summer – three times longer than the five days it was initially predicted to take each time.

This could pose problems for events planned to take place in the stadium over the summer, including concerts as well as athletics in 2017, and it could possibly delay West Ham’s return for the start of the football season.

Deputy mayor Jules Pipe told Sky News the Mayor’s Office had inherited “a mess” from predecessor Boris Johnson.

Mr Pipe said: “Last year the previous administration told the public that the costs had risen in total to around £270m. The new Mayor has now been told that cost will be over £320m.

“Understandably, Sadiq has ordered an investigation as to why those two figures are so wildly different.

“As the new administration at City Hall clearing up the mess of the previous administration, we need to make sure that the stadium runs on a sustainable basis and it is affordable to London.”

The total cost of the stadium has risen to £752 million, with the taxpayer meeting the entire cost apart from a £15 million contribution from West Ham.