'How we will win Games for London'

The leaders of London's Olympic bid will today set out how they aim to win the 2012 Games for the capital.

Sebastian Coe and Ken Livingstone will appear before the London Assembly to outline how the Olympics would be a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to spark regeneration across east London.

They will also seek to deflect concerns about Londoners footing the bill if the event overruns its budget.

London will submit its final bid in November and is competing against Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow. The International Olympic Committee will select the host city next summer.

But Conservatives on the assembly, while supporting the bid in principle, want to ensure that any overspend should fall to the nation and not the capital's council taxpayers.

Under a deal agreed between the Mayor and the Government last year, residents would pay ?20 a year for 10 years from 2006. In the event of unexpected cost overruns, Londoners would have to continue to pay the ?20 for two more years - taking an average household's total outlay to ?240.

Tory spokeswoman Angie Bray said: "So far we have focused too much on the joy of the Olympic Games and far too little on the financial burden.

"I am all for the Olympics but only if Londoners get a fair deal. If we get this wrong we could be mortgaging Londoners' future for years to come."

Mr Livingstone says that the capital will get back ?3 from the nation for every ?1 it invests.