A BOLTON firm is to create the steel structure for London's spectacular Olympic Stadium.

Watson Steel Structures Limited, based in Lostock Lane, Horwich, has been awarded the multi-million pound contract.

The company, which employs 300 people, is currently working with designers on the plans for the innovative 80,000-seat arena, which will host the highlights of the 2012 games.

Managing director Peter Emerson said: "We are absolutely delighted that we've been awarded the contract. It's great for the company and puts us on a world stage.

"It is a culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people in the last 18 months."

Staff will begin manufacturing the steelwork this summer, using thousands of tonnes of the metal.

It will then be transported by road, in parts of various sizes, to the East London stadium site at the end of the year.

A team of around 50 people from Watson's will fit the steel structure throughout 2009 and into 2010.

After the games, 55,000 demountable seats will be taken away to create a permanent athletics arena. Designers say creating a stadium with such a mix of permanent and temporary seating has never been attempted before.

Mr Emerson added: "This contract shows that the Olympics is not just for London and the South-east of England. There are opportunities for everyone in the UK."

The deal is one of the largest ever secured by the firm, which was formed in the 1920s.

And Mr Emerson said it would also be good news for the firm's suppliers in Bolton, across Greater Manchester and beyond.

Watson Steel's previous contracts include Bolton Wanderers' Reebok stadium, Blackpool's Big One rollercoaster, the City of Manchester stadium, and more recently the refurbishment of St Pancras station in London.

Mr Emerson said its success on those projects and others prompted the designers and builders Team Stadium to award the contract.

The company is one of thousands which will work on projects connected to the games in 2012.

Today the Olympic Delivery Authority launched a business "dating agency" at Old Trafford to help firms from across the UK win contracts linked to the games.

It expects to allocate more than £6billion of work to firms and their supply chains.