£32m to be spent sprucing up shabby streets for 2012 visitors

Organisers have set aside £32 million to spruce up the main routes to the Olympic Park and other venues for the 2012 Games.

The scheme, called the Look of London, will mean shabby streets around the Stratford site are smartened up, with benches restored and painted, graffiti removed and chewing gum blasted away.

Other measures being planned include re-painting red phone boxes, decorative planting and hanging 2012 banners.

A Government spokesman said it wants the city to look "fabulous" for the Games. However, there are no details on exactly where the money will be spent or how it will be allocated.

In a parliamentary answer, Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said: "The purpose of this budget is to help improve the look of streets en route to the Olympic Park and off-park Olympic venues by assisting with street cleaning and dressing measures.

"The responsibility for allocation of these funds will be determined nearer the time of the Games."

The Conservatives questioned whether the money, which comes from the Olympic budget and will be overseen by Ms Jowell, would be better spent on promoting tourism.

Shadow culture, media and sport secretary Hugh Robertson said £32 million was "an awful, awful lot of money" for the things mentioned by Ms Jowell.

He added: "We need to establish exactly what Look of London is and who is on it. It would have been easier to give the money to Visit London which is already there to promote the city."

Mr Robertson pointed out that Visit Britain's budget was being cut from £49 million a year to £40 million a year between now and 2011.

"The irony is that £32 million is being put in Look of London's budget at exactly the same time as the Government has cut the tourism budget," he said. "The one thing we do know from the past three or four Games is they have all boosted tourism."

A spokesman for Visit Britain said it would not comment on Look of London but said the Games had the potential to unlock a £2billion benefit for the tourism industry if there was investment from the Government.

"This money doesn't grow on trees, we have to work for it," he added.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the money was included in the £9.3billion budget for the Olympics.

She denied the money would be better spent on promoting tourism.

"Visit Britain will have its programme not just for London but Britain and will be announcing its Olympic plans for attracting tourists," she added.