THOUSANDS of people travelling to the Olympic Games in Stratford this summer will be urged to disembark at Leyton Tube station, it has emerged.

Games bosses are planning to divert some trains to the stop in Leyton High Road, which could mean around 800 people arriving there every ten minutes.

The plans were revealed by council officer Keith Hanshaw at a council meeting to discuss the impact of the Olympics on the borough.

Last September the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced it would provide £200,000 in funding for improvement works to help increase the capacity of the station.

However the ODA did not say it was planning to divert trains at the time.

And back in 2006 it was even suggested that Leyton Station would have to be closed altogether during the Olympics amid fears it would not be able to cope with visitor numbers.

The minutes of the council meeting, held earlier this month, also reveal that the authority has rejected suggestions by residents to make some streets temporarily one-way only to avoid them being used as "rat-runs" during the Games.

Mr Hanshaw said officers had looked at the idea but concluded such proposals were "unworkable".

It comes as a survey this week of 20,000 drivers found that around a third of people who plan on attending the Games will use their cars for all or part of their journeys.

The report by insurers AA and poll firm Populous also found a further 30 per cent were still undecided on their travel plans.

The council is set to introduce a giant controlled parking zone for residents in Leytonstone and Leyton during the Games to prevent visitors from using streets as a car park.

However the plans have attracted criticism over the number of visitor permits each home will be allowed.

Officers also told the meeting that there were a variety of plans in place to deal with possible terrorist threats in the borough during the Games.

However the security services will not tell Waltham Forest Council what they are, Mr Hanshaw added.

Click here to follow the Waltham Forest Guardian on Twitter

Click here to follow the Waltham Forest Guardian on Facebook