West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has accused Tottenham of committing a "corporate crime to bring the bulldozers in'' should they demolish the Olympic Stadium at the end of the 2012 Games. Both the Hammers and Spurs are bidding to take over the venue once the Olympics have finished.
However, while West Ham would retain the athletics track as part of the commitment to legacy, Spurs would instead tear down the stadium and build a new football-only venue.
"It's a corporate crime to spend £500million on a stadium and, just four weeks after the Games have finished, bring the bulldozers in,'' Brady told the BBC's Breakfast.
She added: "The Olympic Stadium was built on a promise, made in the Queen's name, to have a legacy for athletics.
"Through [West Ham's] design there will be over £90million spent on reconfiguring the stadium so it sits perfectly for athletics and football and cricket and major events.
"Once the conversion is done, with the roof and some of the seats, there won't be a single seat within that stadium that has a worse view of the pitch than Wembley.''
If successful, Tottenham, joint bidders with sports and entertainment company AEG, intend to contribute to the refurbishment of the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy responded to Brady's claims, saying in a statement.
"A lot of emotive phrasing has been used regarding the dismantling of the stadium and it is scaremongering and irresponsible.
"If we look at the facts, the Olympic Stadium as we now see it was never intended to be kept. The original 2012 legacy promised to dismantle all of the stadium above ground leaving a sunken 25,000-capacity athletics arena - that has proved unviable.
"Our plans involve the same amount of dismantling and this is in no way a loss of £500million of stadium infrastructure.
"Given how much of the original groundworks, substructure and podium will remain, around £420million worth, we are talking about £80million of above-ground infrastructure - all of which will be recycled or re-used.
"Additionally, our bid sees a return to the public purse which far exceeds this figure and our bid does not require any public sector funding.''
