2012 Olympics - Audio & Video

Demolition work has begun  to clear the way for the London 2012 Games' Olympic Park, as a disused sports hall became the first building to be knocked down.

The old sports hall on Eton Manor, in the north of the Olympic Park site, will become the site for a new centre hosting tennis and archery during the Paralympic Games and will be a training area during the Olympics.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: "This is another significant event for London 2012. Today we begin our site demolition by knocking down an old derelict building, and ultimately replacing it with state-of-the-art sports facilities for Londoners to use and enjoy for generations to come.

"We have made excellent progress on the Olympic Park site this year, and this is another important landmark for us on the road to delivering a memorable Olympic Games and Paralympic Games."

Eton Manor has a rich sporting heritage - part of the running track used for the 1948 Olympics was transferred there after the Games and is buried underneath the site. The first athletics meeting in the UK post World War II was also held at Eton Manor.

Eton Manor Clubs moved out of the area more than 25 years ago, and the site is now overgrown and disused - and the sports hall had become dilapidated and vandalised.

Some members of the Eton Manor Association, Lord Coe, and three Paralympic Archers, John Cavanagh, Cathy Smith and Danielle Brown watched the bulldozers go in, with the archers firing into a target on the wall to signal the start of the demolion work.

Take a look at our picture gallery and watch Tom Edwards' report for BBC London News: