The London Daily News

A website heralded as a means for small business to take advantage of the Olympics has been slammed by the Lib Dems.

According to figures from the parliamentary questions and publicly available figures - only 140 out of 880 contracts were through the Compete for Procurement website.

That amounts to £19 million from £3.5 billion worth of business.

The Olympic Delivery Authority called it a "dating agency" where small business could compete for up to 50,000 contracts - it cost £5 million to set up.

Steel from Bolton

When launched in January it was trumpeted as a way for London firms to fight the recession.

Olympic minister Tess Jowell that 2012 was "economic gold in the time of economic lead."

The ODA say 550 contracts were given out before the site activated and it was too early to judge whether it had been a success.

A spokeswoman said steel of the Olympic stadium roof was from Bolton and:

"Hundreds of companies across the UK are benefiting from work for the games".