**West Ham are in talks with Newham Council over a joint bid to occupy the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.**The Olympic Park Legacy Company on Tuesday formally invited would-be tenants at the £537m stadium to lodge expressions of interest.
The Hammers and their east London council said they hope the Stratford venue, also in Newham borough, will feature “both football and athletics”.
Interested parties have an eight-week deadline to submit plans to the OPLC.
A decision on the stadium’s future use will be made by March 2011.
A joint statement from West Ham and Newham Council read: "The proposal would be to make the venue a vibrant centre of sport, culture and education, featuring both football and athletics.
“Open day and night all year round, it would have an active community use, inspiring learning and achievement and helping to create a better quality of life for tens of thousands.”
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“A stadium of such magnitude cannot just sit empty”
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The statement continued: "One of the ideas being examined is to incorporate an Olympic visitor centre and football museum at the stadium.
“Together with the other attractions in the Olympic Park and the neighbouring Westfield Stratford City shopping centre it could make the venue one of the nation’s favourite destinations.”
West Ham have long been linked with a move to the nearby Stratford venue, and that intention was reaffirmed in January when David Sullivan and David Gold assumed control of the cash-strapped club.
“We hope to persuade the government to let us move into the new Olympic stadium and I believe the people of east London would support that move,” former Birmingham City owner Sullivan said at the time.
Having a Grand Prix athletics track at the stadium was one of the pledges made to the International Olympic Committee when London won the right to host the Games.
But OPLC chair Baroness Ford has said the door is not closed on it being a multi-purpose venue, while London Mayor Boris Johnson is keen on a football club taking over the running costs of the stadium.
The political backing for West Ham’s bid has also been bolstered by the support of Newham Mayor Robin Wales, who sits on the boards of the OPLC and Games organiser Locog.
The arena, which is set to be reduced from an 80,000 to a 25,000 capacity after the Games, has been named as a possible venue for inclusion in England’s 2018 World Cup bid.
The Football Association is due to make a final decision on whether the stadium is formally included in the bid by May 2010.
The OPLC, meanwhile, has confirmed that interest in the stadium has so far come from UK Athletics, who wants to host national and international events at the venue, the Rugby Football Union, who has discussed the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and the England and Wales Cricket Board, who is interested in holding Twenty20 matches at the stadium.
There has also been interest from organisers of American football, baseball and mass participation road running races.