The Olympics minister on Tuesday admitted that two of the biggest games venues still had no financial backing from their developers and that “this is not a good time to pursue private sector investment”.

Organisers had not given up hope of raising private sector finance for the £900m ($1.3bn) Olympic village and £400m media centre, Tessa Jowell told MPs, but they did not rule out the prospect of the government bailing them out for the 2012 event.