London can strike gold

London this afternoon turned up the heat on Paris in the final sprint to the 2012 Olympics.

A glowing report shows how far the city come in closing the gap on the French capital.

But it warns there are still areas of "concern" which could give Paris the edge. Bid leader Lord Coe hailed the report as a major boost and said: "This is a great springboard for the last 30 days

the campaign." The report says:

But there were three key areas of concern: public support for the Games is lowest in London, the weather is expected to be worst of all the competing host cities and careful planning is needed to make sure the Olympic Park is built on time.

Bookmakers immediately slashed the odds on London landing the Games from 3-1 to 11-4. Paris remains favourite at 1-4 on. The report by a special team from the International Olympic Committee-is the biggest boost yet to London'sbid. It will be used by IOC members-when they vote next month in Singapore on who will host the Games.

The key boost to the bid came in the report's assessment of London's transport system.

The inspectors were taken on a journey through a new tunnel which will link King's Cross to Stratford with special express trains taking just seven minutes.

There are plans for an East London line extension and upgrades to the Jubilee line as well as special "Olympics lanes" on key roads.

The report said: "During the bid process, substantial London rail transport infrastructure investment have been clearly confirmed, guaranteed and accelerated.

"Provided that this proposed programme of public transport improvements is fully delivered on schedule before 2012 and the extensive Olympic route network is implemented, the Commission believes that London would be capable of coping with the traffic."

Lord Coe said: "A lot of hard work has paid off."

He said he was delighted that attempts to refocus the bid, by improving transport, abandoning three outlying venues and securing the funding, had been welcomed by the inspectors. "I'm also pleased they share the vision of the Olympic Park and the potential for the regeneration of part of this country that has some of the highest levels of social deprivation," he said.

"Sport has been properly understood as a bridgehead into these issues."

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell vowed that the Government would "keep its foot on the accelerator" and deliver on the transport improvements promised in the bid. "We have a bid that we can win," she said.

Ken Livingstone said: "This is a race that is too close to call." The Mayor said public support for the bid was already higher than when a poll indicating just 68 per cent of Londoners backed the bid. He said support had now reached 79 per cent, compared with 85 per cent in Paris.

Mr Livingstone said simply bidding for the Olympics had already brought rewards with extensions to the East London line and Docklands Light Railway under way.

He said: "The transformation of transport in east London is already a legacy for all Londoners and opens up the potential for homes and jobs for hundreds of thousands of Londoners for generations to come." Simon Clegg, chief executive of the British Olympic Association, said: "This is a very, very positive report for London."

London's plan to use world class venues such as the new Wembley, Wimbledon and Lord's was warmly praised.

The report praises the £1.5 billion funding package put in place by the Government, which would use a mixture of lottery proceeds and council tax money, "as a positive factor".

But Paris remains the city to beat with praise from IOC inspectors on most aspects of its bid.