CONSTRUCTION work on the Olympic park has helped only 115 people from the five Olympic boroughs to get off the dole.

The site employs 820 people from the local area, or about 20 per cent, from a total of more than 4,100 workers.

Of these, about 14 per cent, or 115, had declared themselves unemployed.

The figures were released by Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

An ODA spokesman said: “We are delivering vital business, jobs and training opportunities in a tough time for companies and workers in east London.

"Jobs are advertised in local job brokerages first and around a fifth of the workforce live around the Olympic Park while half live in London.

"One in ten of the current Olympic park workforce was previously unemployed, this is above our agreed seven per cent target and a dedicated digger school and construction training centre have been set up to help even more local people get work on site."

The five host boroughs - Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest - are home to some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said work on the site was ahead of schedule.

She said: "All the major venues on the Olympic park are either on schedule or ahead of schedule.

"The International Olympic Committee's co-ordination committee, during its visit in April, described progress to date as ‘nothing short of astounding'."

Ms Jowell added that more than 34 per cent of the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA) programme is now complete.

"Construction has now commenced on all five major venues, and construction of the Olympic stadium is now one year in and remains ahead of schedule," she said.