EDMONTON MP Andy Love is to have crunch talks with Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell over the future of the Picketts Lock area.o

A series of high level discussions are taking place after the plan for a national athletics stadium at the site was abandoned by the government a fortnight ago.

Now Mr Love is backing a proposal for a £4m high performance sports centre at Picketts Lock to form part of a regeneration programme for the area.

He said: "There are active discussions taking place at present on facilities to replace the stadium proposal.

"I will see the Secretary of State and will press for a community sports facility as part of a sports action zone to regenerate the eastern part of the borough."

But Eric Ollerenshaw, deputy leader of the Greater London Authority Conservatives and chairman of the GLA regeneration committee, believes that the Picketts Lock fiasco has cost hopes of bringing much needed money to the north-east London region.

He said: "The government had been warned that any failure to deliver on Picketts Lock would cause great damage to any major bids from Britain in the future. Now we are seeing it is much more serious than that."

A decision on whether Picketts Lock is to be chosen as the site for a high performance centre is expected at the end of next month.