Olympic Delivery Authority gains planning and land ownership powers as London Mayor is also given specific Olympic powers.

The Olympic Delivery Authority has been officially granted planning and land ownership powers after the Olympic Bill became law yesterday.

The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act means that the interim ODA becomes a permanent body and also creates the role of director of Olympic transport within the organisation.

Under the Act, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone will have specific Olympic powers, while a number of measures have been put in place to restrict commercial exploitation of the Games, including making ticket touting for the Games a criminal offence.

Minister for culture, media and sport Tessa Jowell said: "This Act will allow the Olympic Delivery Authority to come into existence, as we planned, in the first week of April. We have a strong team at the ODA headed by Jack Lemley and David Higgins and they can now press on with the vital task of preparing the ground for 2012."

"We can look forward not just to staging the greatest show on earth in 2012 but to leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come in East London and beyond."

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