London mayor Boris Johnson has heaped praise on the city following the staging of the “most successful Olympic ever”.

In particular the mayor was quick to point to the transport system, which operated without major incident throughout the London 2012 Olympic Games, as the army of some 88,000 volunteers who made the event possible.

Sitting beside London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) chairman Seb Coe and secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport, Jeremy Hunt, Johnson also spoke of his “great relief” at the end of the Games.

“There was a part of me that did not want to hand over the flag to [Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo] Paes last night.

“But now that we are finished I feel a great sense of relief, in a good way, that the Games are over and we can look back at what we have achieved.”

Johnson went on to add London now expects a dividend of £250 million over the coming months, as tourists, attracted by what they have seen during the Games visit the city.

Quashing fears London would be left with a series of white elephants, Johnson explained permanent uses had been found for six of the eight venues left behind the Games, while bidding for the other two remained “competitive”.

The future of the Olympic Stadium and Press & Broadcast Centre are yet to be decided.

“The doom mongers are on the back foot, and we are going to prove them wrong further as we deliver and equally successful Paralympic Games and build on the legacy we are already seeing emerge from our efforts,” added the mayor.

The Paralympic begin in 16 days on August 29th.

Take a look at the official website here.