Campaigners aiming to reopen east London’s Cody Dock on the River Lee which has been left to waste more than 40 years have been given an 11th hour extension to raise the cash.

Simon Myers, 38, who has been campaigning for three years to rejuvenate the derelict site, has been racing against the clock to complete the project in time for the Olympics at the end of July.

Olympics legacy director Lord Mawson yesterday called on the Spacehive.com community funding platform to allow more time for Simon to raise the final �80,000 needed with more online public donations.

Lord Mawson said: “I’ve asked the funding platform to extend the deadline and am appealing to anyone who wants to see this neglected corner of east London opened up to pledge a contribution.

“Unlocking Cody Dock is the final missing block in a 26-mile walk along the banks of the Lea, opening up London’s hidden second river.”

The June 6 deadline on the funding website was too close—so Lord Mawson has persuaded the website to allow another 30 days to the appeal, with �60,000 already raised. The target is �140,000.

Actor David Suchet, comedian Andi Osho and activist Billy Bragg are backing the project. Thames Water, which owns the disused site, has donated land worth �750,000 to help Simon realise his dream.

He wants the GLA to fill in the financial gap so his army of community volunteers can fill in the physical gap and get the Fat Walk completed in time for the Olympics on July 27.

“They could do this with the millions they’re holding from the former London Thames Gateway Corporation,” Simon urged. “We have the volunteers and only need �80,000.”

Plans for the two-and-a-half acre site, left waste since the huge Bromley-by-Bow gasworks closed in the 1960s, include a nature reserve, exhibition and studio space for arts and crafts and a visitor centre.