The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has praised the progress made on the Olympic Village, which has now been under construction for nearly a year.

During the Games, the Village will provide first-class accommodation for around 17,000 athletes. After the Games it will be transformed into up to 3,000 new homes, with a mix of affordable housing and accommodation for sale and rent.

Seven of the 11 residential blocks that will make up the Village have already risen up out of the ground as construction surges ahead.

Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman John Armitt said: "The Olympic Village will be one of the strongest legacies from the Games, delivering world-class accommodation for athletes in 2012 and creating essential new housing for new and existing communities for generations to come."

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As well as new homes and thousands of job and training opportunities, the 2012 Games are delivering a range of long-terms benefits to the local area. These include the Olympic Park's new green spaces and landscaped parklands, revitalised waterways, new venues, improved transport infrastructure and new utilities networks.

Work has also started on the Chobham Academy, a new education campus being built within the Olympic Village. The Academy will give local people and future residents access to education facilities for a range of ages and needs.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "The ODA is making terrific progress and our vision of a vibrant, thriving district of new communities, surrounded by beautiful parklands and reclaimed waterways with outstanding sporting, educational and cultural facilities, is taking shape. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will deliver much more than just six weeks of sport and it is clear from progress to date that the future for this previously deprived area is spectacularly bright."

(CD/JM)