Pictures: Last seat removed from Olympic Park’s Basketball Arena

Sports fans lucky enough to get tickets crowded into the Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park to watch athletes battle for a gold medal, but anyone visiting now would be even harder pressed to find a place to sit - as all seats have been removed from the venue.

These pictures show the last seat being taken out as part of the ongoing transformation of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Of the 12,000 seats which have been taken out, 7,000 have been sold and 3,000 will be used in the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, being built in Eton Manor, where the wheelchair tennis was held in the summer.

The remaining 2,000 will be made available through the rental market.

The Basketball Arena will be completely removed by summer, when work will begin to create 850 new homes in its place as part of the Chobham Manor development.

The arena, between the Athletes Village and the Velodrome, is one of three temporary venues being removed by the London Legacy Development Cooperation (LLDC), the body in charge of the Park’s transformation.

Work has begun to dismantle the Waterpolo Arena, and the Riverbank Arena, where hockey was played, has already been taken down.

Sections of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will start to reopen in July after all the temporary structures and roads are cleared away, new roads and walkways are created to fully connect the Park to the surrounding area and bridges, parklands and venues are completed for permanent use.