David Higgins, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, has denied that the project manager role for the 2012 Olympics is being re-tendered with the aim of persuading American engineer Bechtel to bid.

He told Building: "That's absolutely not the case. We have no preference for any organisation. We have changed the brief to extend it to cover legacy issues."

He said several "major international organisations" had expressed interest in the latest bidding process.

The ODA said this week that it would join forces with Stratford City Development to redesign the Olympic village.

Higgins said the integration of the village and Stratford City would mean that construction could start earlier, as the land was cleared and remediated.

The revised plans for the Olympic Park will allow 95 businesses in the Fish Island and Pudding Mill Lane area of the site to stay put. They had been due to be served with compulsory purchase orders.