The opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games on Friday July 27 has been shortened because of concerns about spectators getting home.

The planned £27m three-hour show starts at 9pm and is being overseen by creative director Danny Boyle,

It is called Isles of Wonder, with a ‘green and pleasant land’ theme, and is 
expected to feature live farm animals, a cricket match, rain, the story of the union movement and the National Health Service, and a tribute to Britain’s varied musical heritage, with Sir Paul McCartney as the closing act.

Up to 10,000 people, many of them volunteers, will be involved, and have spent months rehearsing their roles.

But with just nine days to go, organisers have asked for the show to be cut by 30 minutes to make it easier for spectators to get away from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford at the end of the performance.

‘We have taken the tough decision to cut a small stunt bike sequence of the show,’ said a spokesman for Games organisers LOCOG.

‘We will be paying contracts in full and giving full credit in the programme.’

The Daily Mirror reports that the original plan was for the ceremony to be cut even shorter, but Boyle was ‘absolutely livid’ at the news and refused to give way.

‘The volunteers have spent months and months preparing for this event and he was not prepared to allow any of the hard work to be sacrificed,’ said a source.

‘He said he would not accept it and believed it unfair not only on the spectators, but also on people watching at home on television.’

For more on this story go to: http://www.metro.co.uk/olympics/905501-london-2012-opening-ceremony-to-be-cut-over-late-night-transport-concerns#ixzz210Mn7Cpp