The International Olympic Committee (IOC) believes Britain's preparations for the 2012 games in London are far ahead of any other host at a similar stage in the process, the government said on Thursday.

Culture, Media, Sports and Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell briefed the cabinet on Thursday about the preparations and Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman gave a readout on the meeting.

"The IOC believe that we are substantially ahead of any other city at this stage in the preparations for the games. I think the figure she used was that we are, for instance, two years ahead of where Sydney was at this comparative stage in the preparation of the games," the spokesman said.

"Obviously we need to maintain that, but that's an indication of the planning that is going on," he said.

London 2012 organisers are planning to build an 80,000-seat stadium which will be at the heart of a 200-hectare site in London's East End.

In April, the IOC said it was encouraged by London's early progress following a two-day visit and applauded it for maintaining the momentum of its project.