Wembley 'ready just weeks before Cup'

Wembley stadium will only be finished weeks before the flagship opening match to be played there, its builder admitted today.

The firm behind the new national stadium said it would hand it over to the FA six weeks before the Cup final next May - and the margin may get even slimmer.

Multiplex is already struggling after revealing it will lose a massive ?45million at the site and saying it was three months behind schedule.

Today it insisted it would hand over the project to the FA in time for the final - but added that it was possible it would eat even further into the six-week margin for error.

Any additional delays would be a severe blow to the Football Association.

Describing the problems afflicting the development as "unacceptable", Multiplex said in an update to shareholders that "productivity levels that had been assumed previously [at Wembley] are not currently being achieved".

It now forecasts that the entire job will not be completed until the end of the March.