London Badminton venue set to be moved

The venue for badminton, handball and rhythmic gymnastics at the 2012 London Olympics is set to be moved for cost-cutting purposes.

London organisers had planned to build a temporary, 6,000-seat arena in the north Greenwich area, but a report by accounting consultants KPMG recommends the venue be relocated.

"The draft conclusion of the KPMG report is that there ought to be an economic opportunity to shift, so over the next few months we will look at ways to shift that," London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton told the city assembly.

The change could result in savings worth a reported STG40 million ($A91.95 million).

The existing Wembley Arena in north London is considered a possible replacement venue for the three sports.

Organisers, meanwhile, look set to go ahead with a 12,000-seat, STG60 million ($A137.93 million) temporary arena for basketball in the main Olympic Park. Deighton said it "did not make economic sense" to move the venue to a permanent site elsewhere.

Other temporary venues under review are equestrian at Greenwich Park and shooting at Woolwich.

The global financial crunch is biting into the London Games, which has a STG9.3 billion ($A21.38 billion) budget.

Most under pressure is the STG1 billion ($A2.3 billion) athletes' village.

Australian construction company Lend Lease is having trouble securing private financing from the banks to build the facility.

Funding for the STG400 million ($A919.54 million) international broadcast and press centre is also uncertain.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell told business leaders last week that, had Britain known years ago that an economic recession was coming, it probably would not have bid for the Games.