Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Cost of the 2012 Olympics set to rise

Updated at 7:32 am on 10 February 2010

Organisers of the London 2012 Olympics say the cost of the Games could rise by more than 400 million dollars mainly because of security issues, but will still remain within budget.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport says up to 360 million dollars could could be spent on securing the Olympic Park and venues during the Games and immediately afterwards.

The anticipated final cost has also risen by a further 47 million dollars a result of the poor economic climate.

Organisers say the extra money will come from the remaining 2.8 billion dollar contingency fund and the overall cost will stay within the 21 billion dollar budget.

Work on Games preparations was temporarily affected by the winter weather, the worst to hit Britain in 30 years, but was now back on track.

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