How the 2012 Olympic village will look

NEW images of the £900million Olympic village in Stratford were released by the Olympic Delivery Authority today.

The ODA said work on the 2,800-apartment project remained on track despite continued funding difficulties.

The ODA has already used £95million of contingency funds to bail out the scheme as developer LendLease and its banks struggled to find £450million in private funding.

Olympics chiefs are almost certain to ask for more cash this year for the village.

ODA chief executive David Higgins said: "These images show the progress we are making, keeping us on track to deliver new homes for Londoners together with parks, public squares and community facilities. Our discussions on the funding of the village are continuing."

Construction work on the Olympic village , which will comprise 11 residential blocks, started last May and has already become one of the busiest construction sites in London.

Work has begun on the village's "super-structure". The first above-ground vertical columns have been constructed to form the ground-floor level of the first residential buildings.