Boris Johnson backs plan for university on Olympic park site

It is hoped that a top British university will agree to establish a campus in the Olympic Park as a flagship legacy scheme.

Olympic chiefs have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England to draw up plans for a college to make the commitment to the East End.

Talks have already been held with the Russell Group, which represents universities that receive two-thirds of research funding in the UK.

Universities thought to be interested in a move include King's College, Imperial College and University College London. Loughborough University is also involved in talks.

Olympics chiefs are thought to favour a "federal" arrangement with several universities sharing the campus and specialising in sport and science. The Olympic Park Regeneration Steering Group, attended by government ministers, Mr Johnson and the leaders of the five Olympic boroughs will launch the study next month.

"There is space on the Olympic Park site and some of the housing that will be left after the Games could be used as student accommodation," said a source.

Under the plan, funding will come from the colleges' own capital reserves and public funding. The Mayor's office is also in early talks with universities in Beijing about taking a share in the Olympic campus.

Higher education is a key part of the legacy for the Olympic Park. Booming creative and media departments at the University of East London and London Metropolitan University may be housed in the giant Olympic media centre in Hackney Wick after the Games.

London Metropolitan put itself forward for a legacy role as part of the original media centre consortium including Igloo and Carillion. Last month it emerged Igloo had withdrawn from the consortium after failing to find its share of funding for the £300million-plus venue.

Olympics chiefs have considered numerous cost-cutting measures to absorb the cash crisis. Proposals to build an entirely temporary complex have been ruled out as this would not have made a sufficient saving.

Games chiefs are also under pressure to deliver on a pledge for the site to become a "digital hub" creating up to 10,000 high-quality jobs.

It is thought the Olympic Delivery Authority will revert largely to its original plan to build a permanent 1.3million square metre facility in Hackney Wick, to the east of the Olympic Park.

Building work is due to begin in the spring but negotiations to find tenants for the giant structure -the size of Canada Tower in Canary Wharf- are expected to continue for several years.