A hundred residents and schoolchildren were the first to enjoy a picnic and walk at the 2012 Olympic Park.

Ray Gipson and John Bevan, pictured, from Bow were among the people living around the park invited in for a picnic last week.

The neighbours to the Olympic Park were also given a guided tour led by design team behind the recently completed parklands, including a socalled wetland bowl and riverside spectator lawn.

Hosting the picnic and walk ODA Chairman John Armitt said: “The riverside lawns, meadows, wooded hills and wetlands will help create a colourful festival atmosphere in London 2012 and become a new park for people and wildlife in legacy.”

Work is underway to create around 250 acres of parklands on former industrial land aimed at providing a colourful and festival atmosphere in 2012. After the Games it will become the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the largest urban park to have been created in the UK for over a century.