The British government must set a final budget for the London 2012 Olympics urgently to ensure the successful delivery of the Games, a report by independent auditors said today.
The National Audit Office's (NAO) report criticised ministers for failing to decide how to split funding between the Treasury, the national lottery and local taxpayers in London.
"There are a number of areas of risk that will need to be managed, but a major risk is the lack of final agreed cost estimates and an accompanying funding package, and this will inevitably have a detrimental impact on the programme if it is allowed to continue," the Audit Office said.
The report comes a week after parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee also criticised the government's management of the Games' finances, saying budget figures were "seriously outdated".
The euphoria of winning the right to stage the Olympics was quickly replaced by high-profile resignations and rows over finances in 2006, culminating in Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell admitting that the budget for building the infrastructure had risen by £900 million to £3.3 billion.