The programme of work to transform the Olympic Park site following the conclusion of the Olympics and Paralympics is already well underway with London 2012 having removed the majority of the temporary facilities that were in place for the Games.

A significant proportion of Games-time temporary overlay has also been removed as the LLDC begins work to transform the Olympic Park as part of a £292 million ($465 million/€360 million) construction project.

"The work has already begun on preparing the Olympic Park and Olympic Village for legacy," said LLDC interim chief executive Dennis Hone.

"Once all the overlay and Games-time elements are removed, we will start to deconstruct the temporary venues, adapt permanent venues for future use, reshape the landscape and retrofit the village into a new community for London.

"This will take some time, but the wait will be worth it."

Hone, who is also the chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the company that built the Olympic Park, added that it will be a magnificent site when it reopens as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park next year.

"Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be a fantastic new place to live, work, visit and enjoy," he said.

"This really is an opportunity to create a legacy of the type we have never seen before."

The Copper Box will be the first London 2012 venue to re-open to the public on July 27, 2013

The start of the handover means the LLDC has taken over operational control of all aspects of the Olympic Park including perimeter security, access control and logistics operations.

But London 2012 has phased handover dates for specific venues and spaces to the LLDC.

The Aquatics Centre, the Velodrome and the Basketball Arena have already been handed over to LLDC, while the Copper Box will be handed over in November and the Olympic Stadium, Main Press Centre (MPC) and International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in December.

London 2012 is also preparing to hand over the Athletes' Village to the ODA so that a large-scale retrofitting programme can begin, transforming the 2,818 apartments and houses into the East Village from 2013 onwards.

"The UK hosted a spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer," said London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe.

"We have now begun the first chapter of the lasting legacy we promised when we bid for the Games.

"We began our work straight after the Games to transform the venues, parklands and facilities in the Olympic Park to ensure generations to come will benefit from a golden summer.

"I congratulate my team for taking out all the temporary structures so quickly so that the job of transformation continues quickly."

The London 2012 Athletes' Village is undergoing a large-scale retrofitting programme to transform the 2,818 apartments and houses into the East Village

The LLDC's huge construction programme is called "Clear, Connect, Complete".

To help people to get onto the site as quickly as possible, the LLDC has planned its works to enable the Olympic Park to begin to re-open in phases.

The north of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, including the Copper Box, will be the first part of the site to open on July 27, 2013 which is the one-year anniversary of the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

The whole Park will be open by spring 2014.

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