London 2012 organisers taken aback by enormity of Olympics in Beijing

The size of the venues and the cost of the Games in the Chinese capital has dwarfed anything that has gone before and Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London organising committee LOCOG, admitted to having some "trepidation" in his report to the International Olympic Committee.

Deighton later insisted he was inspired rather than daunted by the task ahead. He said: "I think the Beijing Games could end up being unique – I'm not sure how many other countries would have either the resources or the control of the resources to be able to put them behind an event like this.

"I think London is much more likely to be the model for Games in the future. I think it's important for the IOC to establish that sort of standard otherwise it's continually narrowing the potential field of candidates who can stage a Games.

"This is going to be a Games with some fantastic spectacles but all the ways that London will be different will be part of London's charm and attraction. The beauty is in the contrast.

"The biggest difference is the scale of the venues. Every building here has a massive amount of space around it.

"I doubt we will have 20,000 people all doing things in unison in our opening ceremony. But when it comes to the field of play we should be able to compete very effectively."

London 2012 have brought more than 100 observers to Beijing to shadow local organisers, and Deighton believes the experience will be priceless.

"I want our team to have had battle experience," he added. "I don't want London 2012 to be the first time they stick their head up out of the trench, they see 10,000 people charging at them and they want to run away. I want them to experience it so they are not intimidated by it."

Deighton also confirmed that London organisers are having to massively scale back the plans for the athletes' village due to the property market slump and the credit crunch.

The original plan had been for the village to have been built at almost zero cost, with the constructors selling the apartments as residential properties after the Games. Now plans have had to be scaled back by up to 30 per cent as organisers attempt to reach an agreement with builders Bovis Lend Lease.

Deighton said: "The market was so strong when we started this it could have been virtually financed in the private markets and the sales values were strong enough to make the whole thing work independently of the Games. Now it has to be built for the Games. Some of the original ideas were to build it 20-30 per cent bigger than was needed. In the strong markets the most attractive real estate came in big blocks.

"Now the market is way down from where it was, the economics of making a tall block doesn't make any sense any more so you come up with a different portfolios of blocks which work for the Games and that's what the boys are coming up with now."

In this report to the IOC, Deighton said in his presentation: "We wish good luck to Beijing – they are clearly going to be absolutely spectacular Games.

"I say that with some trepidation as it is going to be a high standard for LOCOG to follow but we will regard that as an inspiration for us."

Deighton outlined five priorities for organisers over the next year: staying ahead of schedule on the building of the biggest projects; completing the handover from Beijing at the closing ceremony; launching London's cultural Olympiad and educational programmes; integrating the lessons from Beijing into their plans; and finally signing up the remaining sponsors.

Denis Oswald, the head of the IOC's co-ordination commission that acts as a watchdog for 2012's progress, was effusive in his praise for London.

He said: "The development of the Olympic Park is impressive and the Games are moving in a spectacular fashion. We have full trust in the work down by London."