A PLAN has been unveiled to transform London for the 2012 Olympics.

Unemployment, learning and skills, affordable housing, education and health services will all be tackled in the package.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, who launched the Building on Success: London's Challenge for 2012 yesterday, said: "The Olympics in 2012, when the eyes of the world will be on London, give us a timetable to work towards. Visitors should be shown the new infrastructure supporting economic growth.

"2012 is not simply a sporting occasion. It is a clear deadline we can set ourselves for our collected efforts to confirm London's position as the greatest city in the world."

The plan includes a £35 million skills package to help "get more Londoners into work and to ensure they equipped with the high level skills London's employers increasingly want".

Two new partnerships in East and West London aimed at tackling unemployment and to ensure local people benefit from the employment opportunities which the Olympics will bring.

At least 60 new academies and at least 15 new sixth forms or sixth form centres will also be opened.

The PM said London's businesses, community groups and all levels of government must work together to ensure the success of the plan.

"I am convinced that the spirit which London showed last year, and which it continues to show, can be captured and harnessed to overcome all these challenges for the good of this city and all its citizens," Mr Blair said.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: "The preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games give us the chance to harness the full potential of Londoners to make this an even better place to live and work by 2012.

"So I welcome this report and the commitment of the Government to London. I hope all Londoners will make a personal commitment to bring the best out of our city."