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The city of Vancouver has won approval to borrow more than £245 million to complete the athletes' village for the 2010 Winter Olympics after its private financing was cut off.

The British Columbia Legislature gave Vancouver permission to alter the city's charter so it could raise the money without holding a public referendum that officials had worried would not allow the complex to be completed on time.

The £543m project to house some 2,800 Olympic athletes and officials was supposed to have been funded by a private developer who planned to sell most of the units after the Winter Games as luxury condominiums.

But lenders led by US hedge fund Fortress Investment Group cut off money to the developer last year midway through construction over concerns about cost overruns and the weak economy. An estimated £250m is needed to complete the project.

The city, which has already given the developer an emergency £55m loan to keep work going, is financially responsible because of agreements it made with lenders and Olympic organisers the housing would be ready on time. The Winter Games will be held in February 2010.

Legislators voted unanimously in favor of the bill despite nearly 20 hours of debate during which the opposition New Democrats accused the British Columbia Liberal Party government of hiding the true cost to taxpayers of hosting the Olympics.

The Vancouver Organising Committee is expected this week to release a revised budget for the 2010 Games that officials have said will outline the expected impact of the global economic crisis.

Reuters