Five-year countdown to Olympics

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Organisers of the London Olympics have been told they will need to draw on the typical "British cool" if the 2012 Games is to be a success.

Denis Oswald, International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief inspector, was speaking exactly five years before the start of the Games.

Mr Oswald said it was "important they keep a calm and steady focus".

A progress report was also launched in Walthamstow, east London, to mark the five-year milestone.

London 2012 has already endured controversy over the logo, the spiralling budget and the departure of Olympic Delivery Authority chair Jack Lemley, who quit claiming political meddling was hampering the project.

But Mr Oswald said: "We are not only happy, but genuinely excited, by preparations.

"There will always be naysayers, but I would remind those people that the planned improvements to infrastructure and facilities were inevitably required and will bring advantages."