London 2012: Photos of Weymouth's Olympic sandcastle go global

Weymouth will also host a series of cultural Olympiad events, including festivals, concerts and exhibitions during the two weeks

Photos of a giant sandcastle built on Weymouth beach to mark 100 days until the 2012 Olympics have gone worldwide.

The £5,000 sandcastle, funded by the London Games Organising Committee (Locog), was then knocked down as a safety precaution, on 13 April.

Simon Williams, head of Weymouth and Portland's 2012 operations team, said the sandcastle was always going to be demolished after a photo call.

The town and neighbouring Portland will host the sailing events at the Games.

Mr Williams said an "organisational decision" had been taken to dismantle the 4m by 2m (13ft by 6.5ft) sandcastle, prior to it being built.

'Best light'

"[This was] based on the fact, as I understand it, the way it was constructed," he said.

"It was not all sand and clearly if you have a very large sand structure with other structural elements in it, if it was to collapse while unattended, I'm sure you media guys would be on our back straight away.

"We have got some fantastic photographs... and it will present Weymouth and Portland in the best possible light."

He stressed that no public money had been used in constructing the sandcastle and the decision to take it down was taken by Locog.

A Locog spokesman said: "The sandcastle was dismantled as a safety precaution straight after the photos were taken. Our aim was to create an iconic photo opportunity for Weymouth and Portland."

The sandcastle took four days to build and was completed on 13 April.

Up to 15,000 people a day are expected to gather at the beach during the Olympic sailing events, which will be held between 29 July and 11 August.