Third division football club has emerged as a candidate to use the site after the 2012 Games

The future of the Olympic stadium took another twist today as news emerged that third division football club Leyton Orient is in negotiations to share the venue after the 2012 Games.

According to a report in the Evening Standard the club is negotiating sharing the stadium with athletics and possibly a rugby union team.

The news comes after uncertainty over the stadium's legacy, where the capacity will fall from 80,000 seats to 25,000 after the Games. Orient chairman Barry Hearn said his club would not mind retaining an athletics track, which would mean spectators would not be close to the pitch.

Such a deal would settle a rift that has emerged between Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, who is said to favour an athletics legacy and her deputy, Richard Caborn, the sports minister, who has refused to rule out a football club using the venue.

Caborn had been lobbying for the stadium to be used by West Ham after the London 2012 Games.