Hammers chairman Terry Brown reportedly held talks with senior Olympic figures this week to discuss the club moving to the new stadium once the Games are over.

It is understood the club would not be able to afford the move unless they are taken over - and both bidders would look kindly on moving in at the Olympic Stadium.

Caborn is among those supportive of West Ham taking over the stadium post-2012, though he has furiously rejected a report that he favours one bid over another. 

 "There is a very serious negotiation going on between West Ham and the Olympic authorities about the stadium," he said.

"Talks are going on about whether they could do a similar thing to Manchester City when they took over the Commonwealth Games stadium in 2002.

"It is completely untrue and totally without foundation to say that I am either supporting or am in any way involved in a potential bid for West Ham.

"I've have not had any contact with either of the reported bidders at any point - nor would I if they approached me as this would be totally inappropriate."

Manchester City spent £20 million on the changes needed to the Commonwealth Games stadium and have a 250-year lease. Under their deal, they also pay a percentage of their ticket revenue back into grassroots football.

The prospect of moving to a new ground for such a small sum is one reason why there is such interest in West Ham.

One bid is being spearhead by London-based Iranian businessman Kia Joorabchian - the man behind the transfers of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano - who is backed by Israeli property magnate Eli Papouchaldo.

The other is from an Icelandic consortium headed by UEFA executive committee member Eggert Magnusson, who are seeking to put a second bid to the club.

No meeting has taken place with the Icelandic bidders this week however. West Ham's public relations consultant Phil Hall, who also represents Joorabchian, said: "There has been no meeting and no meeting is intended with those people at the moment."

If a football club does move to the Olympic Stadium, London 2012 are keen that the ground would still be able to hold athletics events.

A spokesman for the Olympic Delivery Authority said: "There are a number of options but our priority at the moment is providing an athletics legacy."

Tottenham sporting director Damien Comolli this week ruled his club out of moving to Stratford in East London on the grounds that they would not want a stadium with a running track.

But Mayor Ken Livingstone has always insisted the stadium will not be turned into a football ground after the 2012 Games. He said the International Olympic Committee would block any move to change the stadium's future use.

 

"The deal we made is that it's an athletics stadium and we have a legally-binding contract which is more like an international treaty," Livingstone told insidethegames in March.  "I can't make any change to that without the IOC agreeing.

 

"If I and Seb Coe said to the IOC 'we know we promised you an athletics stadium but we'd rather have West Ham in there as they'd make more money out of it', they would say 'we have a contract and you can get lost'."

 

Coe, the chairman of London 2012, has also always insisted that the stadium should offer athletics a permanent legacy, although he has never ruled out the possibility of a football club taking it over. "No doors are open and no doors are closed," he told insidethegames in April.

 

A spokeswoman for LOCOG today told insidethegames: "As we've always said, our priority is to deliver a great Olympic Stadium, and a permanent, post-Games legacy for athletics. If other sports are interested in post-Games use, then we will obviously have discussions with them, but their needs would have to be met alongisde those of athletics."