A Government-commissioned report into the feasibility of London winning the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games says a bid is doomed to fail.
The report says that Britain’s poor record with major projects such as the Millennium Dome and the new Wembley Stadium would undermine any Olympic bid.
This is coupled with London’s slim chances of beating cities such as Paris or New York.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which commissioned the report, said it had not yet been completed and it was impossible to say what its conclusions would be.
An unnamed Whitehall source said it would take time before Britain could persuade the International Olympic Committee it could deliver a major sporting event.
The source said, “after the Dome, Wembley and Picketts Lock, we have to do a repair job with these IOC people in terms of our ability to deliver major projects.
“Hosting last summer’s Commonwealth Games helped restore our credibility but that’s a far smaller event than an Olympic Games”.
