London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe has offered his support to West Ham in their bid to take over the Olympic Stadium after the games.

Citing a “moral obligation”, Coe said West Ham was his preferred bidder ahead of rival Premiership football club Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham have launched a joint bid with a local council in London to convert the stadium into a 60,000-seater arena suitable for football, athletics, concerts and community use.

In contrast, under the plans put forward by Tottenham, the majority of the present stadium will be demolished and rebuild solely for football.

Tottenham have pledged to redevelop Crystal Palace athletics stadium if they are chosen as the tenants for the Olympic Stadium.

However, Lord Coe has argued Britain’s reputation would be tarnished should West Ham miss out.

“This is about our ability to be taken seriously again in the corridors of world sport,” Coe said in an interview with BBC Sport.

“There is a bid that delivers against the vision that we took to Singapore and we have a moral obligation to make it work.

“It is not beyond the wit of all of us to make this work and we have an obligation to make it work.

“The West Ham bid meets those commitments. I would have to vote West Ham,” he continued.

Coe said British officials had made a clear pledge to International Olympic Committee voters in 2005 that the games stadium would be used as a multi-sports venue for future generations.

“I find it inconceivable that grandparents will take children back to a Premiership football ground, stand among the tiers of sponsorship boxes and say actually somewhere among this lies dormant the memories of Jessica Ennis or Usain Bolt reaching the heights of sport,” continued Coe.

However, Coe’s comments were rejected by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

“Surely it is a far better legacy for London as a whole if you have a world-class stadium for multi-use within the Olympic Park that is full throughout the year and a dedicated athletics venue in south London.

“Strip out the emotion, take a step back and ask what is best for athletics – it is surely to have a dedicated facility that is available all year round rather than 20 days a year.”

A decision on the rival bids is expected to be taken by the Olympic Park Legacy Company this week.

Seb Coe has said there is a ‘moral obligation’ to maintain an athletics track at the Olympic Stadium

World Mobi

Also in Europe today, World Mobi is celebrating the success of its new city guide to London. 

World Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the World Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

London.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

World.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.