According to a new poll by online consumer company Claritas Interactive, a third of Britons think that the 2012 Olympic bid is a bad idea.

Claritas interviewed 2500 people over five weeks for the poll, although these results sharply conflict with the separate British Olympic Association (BOA) and Government research, which claimed that 81 per cent of those polled endorsed the Olympic bid.

The Claritas poll has discovered that 35 per cent of Britons support the bid while 30 per cent do not care either way.

It is also understood that the Labour government has begun to question whether or not the projected £2.4bn expense of hosting the Olympics could be adequately justified.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) will be pitching London against eight other cities – Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.

Before the successful Olympic bid is secured, the BOA and the government have six months to prepare a mini bid for the International Olympic Committee, who will then decide which cities go to the final vote in Singapore during July 2005.

Ideas that the BOA are currently considering for the London bid focus mainly on east London but include tennis at Wimbledon, triathlons in Hyde Park and a football final to be held at the new Wembley Stadium. Details: www.olympics.org.uk