Manchester and Liverpool are "30 years ahead" of London when it comes to sporting facilities, according to Lord Coe.

The key figure behind the 2012 London Olympics admitted that the capital was a poor relation to the great cities of the north.

He said the northwest has "any number of facilities that most Londoners would give their right arms for", reports the Manchester Evening News.

Lord Coe described the City of Manchester stadium, and Manchester's velodrome and aquatics centre, as "the most extraordinary facilities for elite-level athletes".

"What we are striving for in London many of our great northern cities have been very familiar with for more than 30 years," he told the newspaper.

Olympic teams will hold pre-games training camps at facilities in Manchester and in 71 other venues in the northwest.

He also said the Games would be good for tourism and business. In fact, steel being used to build the new Olympic stadium is being provided by a firm in Greater Manchester.

Manchester was widely praised for its successful hosting of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, which was the largest multi-sporting event ever to be held in England.