London Stadium: LLDC and law firm settle over West Ham deal

The owners of London's Olympic stadium have reached an out-of-court settlement with a leading legal firm over West Ham United's controversial deal to play their matches there.

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) originally sued Allen & Overy for £12m for alleged negligence nearly two years ago.

The claim was over the work the firm did on the LLDC's behalf on the concession agreement which gave the Premier League club a 99-year lease of the ground, now called the London Stadium.

There's been widespread criticism of the deal which means West Ham currently pay just £3m rent a season to play their home games there, while each match also costs the taxpayer about £100,000 to stage.

The LLDC is the mayor of London's agency responsible for regenerating the Olympic site in Stratford.

It launched its action in the High Court, alongside its co-owners and commercial arm E20, but has confirmed the sides have now settled.

A statement issued by both the LLDC and Allen & Overy said: "E20 Stadium LLP, London Legacy Development Corporation and Allen & Overy LLP have reached a resolution of the litigation between the parties concerning the March 2013 WHU Concession Agreement. The terms of the settlement are confidential."

It cost more than £300m to convert the stadium, which hosted athletics during the 2012 Games, into a venue which could accommodate top-flight football.

Significant costs are involved in installing temporary seating closer to the pitch for football, but removing it to allow athletics and music events in the summer.

The legal dispute centred on how much extra seating there should be.

West Ham United wanted the capacity increased from 53,500 to more than 60,000 and believed under the terms of the concession agreement they should not have to pay more.

The club originally launched legal action against the LLDC and the parties settled out of court, allowing West Ham some of their cost-free extra capacity.

In their lawsuit, the LLDC claimed Allen & Overy had drafted the agreement inadequately, costing them tens of thousands of pounds in lost revenue per season.

At the time Allen & Overy said the claim was "without merit".

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]