Land owners in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the alpine ski events are due to be held if Munich's bid is successful, started collecting signatures today to force a referendum on whether their town will the bid.

The "Nolympia" initiative has to collect 1,700 signatures in the town of 26,000 order to make the referendum a reality.

Close to 3,000 residents signed an informal list last summer calling for the referendum, which is not technically about stopping the Olympics but about the guarantees promised if the bid is successful.

The initiative comes as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission prepares to begin its visit there next Monday (March 1).

German organisers want to lease land from private owners in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the Games but some residents believe that leasing their land would jeopardise the financial and environmental stability of their small town.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosted the Winter Olympics in 1936 but then only 646 athletes from 28 countries took part.

"The Winter Olympics are too large for Garmisch-Partenkirchen," said Axel Doering, who is behind the referendum.

But Munich claim to be unconcerned about the proposed referendum and they were confident it would fail.

"We are convinced that the overwhelming majority of the population is behind the bid and opinion polls corroborate this," it said in a statement.

"Our latest regional polls indicated that almost two thirds of people in Garmisch-Partenkirchen are in favour of hosting the 2018 Winter Games."

Munich pointed that protests in the build-up to Olympics and Paralympics are not unusual and do not sound the deathknell to a bid.

"Referenda are an important political instrument in any open and sophisticated democracy like Germany," said the statement.

"There was a referendum organised during the IOC Evaluation Commission's visit to Vancouver and they went on to stage a memorable Winter Games with the full backing of millions of passionate fans."

Bernhard Schwank, the chief executive of Munich 2018, claimed that whatever happened they could still host the Games if they are chosen ahead of rivals Annecy and Pyeongchang by the IOC at its Session on July 6.

"Even if the handful of land owners who are involved in our plans decide not to cooperate, we can guarantee the availability of the areas we need," he told ZDF television.

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