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Cllr Daniel Moylan (inset) wants to see London's streets, including Greenwich, clean for 2012

THE capital would be "letting itself down badly" in front of the rest of the world at the 2012 Olympic Games without a cash injection to improve its streets.

This is according to London Councils, the organisation which represents the capital's local authorities.

The organisation's transport and environment committee chairman, Councillor Daniel Moylan, says the Mayor of London and the London Olympic Delivery Authority need to spend money on cleaning up the capital's streets, including Greenwich town centre, before the 2012 Games open.

Cllr Moylan said: "We risk letting ourselves down badly if we invite millions of visitors to London in its current condition.

"Too many of our showpiece streets are dominated by unnecessary and unmaintained clutter, which marginalises pedestrians, endangers cyclists and makes shopping and visiting cultural centres an unpleasant experience."

He added: "The Olympic Delivery Authority appears to believe visitors to the games will spend all their time being ferried between their hotel and the Olympic Park, but this will not be the case. They will come to London for all its attractions.

"London's boroughs are responsible for most of these streets and public places but they are not being given adequate funding to bring them up to a decent standard."

National charity Living Streets, which aims to improve the quality of street scenes, has backed the call for more money.

Living Streets chief executive Tony Armstrong said: "People from all over the world rightly view London as a world-class city. But in reality, many of our streets are anything but world class.

"The Olympics' focus on activity shouldn't stop and start at the gates of the Olympic Park, it should be built into the bricks and mortar of our city's public spaces."

Cllr Moylan issued the warning at the Annual Quality Streetscape Conference in Mayfair last month.

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