The postcode will serve up to 8,000 planned homes in the area when it is renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after London 2012, while key venues have been allocated their own individual postcodes.

The main Olympic Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics competition during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, has been allocated the postcode of E20 2ST to signify its importance as the flagship venue of the Games.

Stephen Agar, the Royal Mail's Director of Regulated Business, said: "It is fitting that such a significant development in London has been allocated its own easily recognisable postcode more than 150 years after the world's first postcodes were introduced in the capital."

The postcode will serve five new neighbourhoods that the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) is planning to create in the area after London 2012 while the E20 post code will also cover neighbouring areas including the residential apartments in the Athletes' Village and the Westfield Stratford City Shopping Centre which will house 400 retail units.

Andrew Altman, chief executive of the OPLC, said: "Five new neighbourhoods, inspired by the best of London's design and architecture, will sit among 250 acres of open space, 6.5 kilometres of waterways and sporting venues.

"The Park will be a magnet for community sport, international events and cultural attractions."

Creating a new E20 postcode district will help Royal Mail's Dockland's delivery office sort the mail for delivery across the Olympic Park.

Construction of the first new neighbourhood will commence in 2013 and from next month, developers can bid to build its 800 homes that will sit between the VeloPark and the Athletes Village in the north-east of the Park.

In total, up to 8,000 homes will be built over the next 20 years.

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