Businesses on Olympic site still waiting to be reimbursed

Official figures show that 76 of the 193 companies previously located on the Olympic site near Stratford have not been fully reimbursed.

Firms have complained that the London Development Agency has been slow in processing their claims - some which amount to six-figure sums.

One company is seeking £3million in compensation for alleged undervaluation of its property from the Lands Tribunal.

The LDA spent more than £600million buying the 500-acre site and finding alternative premises for businesses and homes before it was handed over to Olympic developers in July 2007. The relocation process has been the largest of its kind in Britain and it has been dogged by complaints.

Seamus Gannon, who ran concrete recycling company Bedrock Crushing on a 2.7-acre site earmarked for the Olympic stadium, accused the LDA of "Mafia-style" tactics.

Mr Gannon said: "We were made an offer two years ago which we knew was lower than it should have been but we were put under immense pressure to accept it. We were told, Mafia-style, it was an offer we could not refuse.

"It was a great business and we were going along nicely until the Olympics. We had a waterfront location and were planning on moving the concrete in barges but we were never there long enough."

Mr Gannon is taking the LDA to a Lands Tribunal alleging that they undervalued his land. He said the LDA paid £2.75million but he was offered £5.75million by a developer a year earlier.

He claims the LDA also owes him another £600,000 for the remainder of the purchase price and moving costs.

Bedrock was relocated to Canning Town but Mr Gannon said he had so many complaints about dust from neighbouring businesses that he sold out eight months ago.

Barry Brewster, director of waste management company Brewsters which numbers the royal family among its clients, described his relocation as a "nightmare" and is still in dispute with the LDA.

His was one of a handful of waste management companies moved from the Marshgate Lane estate to Thames Wharf in Silvertown.

Mr Brewster says his current premises were without utilities for months after he moved in in July 2007 and they still have no mains electricity. Mr Brewster declined to discuss costs but it is thought that the company is claiming £500,000 loss of profits from the LDA. He said: "We are badly out of pocket again."

Not all the companies which are awaiting a final pay-off are in dispute with the LDA.

Caribbean food distributor Kapil Wadhwani, of Wanis Cash and Carry, admitted that he had not yet put in a claim.

The LDA said only a small number of firms had threatened to go to tribunal. The agency said it had complied with a compensation code which requires them to pay 90 per cent of the agreed property purchase and disruption costs - both of which are independently assessed - before the move takes place

An LDA spokesman said: "We are doing everything we can to assist businesses, making every effort to sensitively and fairly relocate everyone from the Olympic site and will continue to offer support."