A STORM has erupted over a decision to spend £5,000 on a giant sandcastle on Weymouth Beach to mark the 100-day countdown to the Olympics.

The castle took four days to build but was knocked down immediately after photographs were taken to mark the occasion because of safety fears.

Organisers have been criticised for wasting taxpayers’ money on a sandcastle hardly anyone saw.

However, Olympic officials have defended the decision to spend the money on the structure which was intended to gain worldwide publicity for the Olympic sailing events taking place in the borough this summer.

And they said a decision had been made, prior to the sandcastle being built, to knock it down immediately after photographs were taken as it could pose a safety risk if left unattended The London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council said the exercise was a ‘success’ and no taxpayers’ money had been spent.

The structure was created by local sand sculptor Mark Anderson for a photocall ahead of yesterday’s 100 days to go Olympic Games countdown.

The four metre by two metre sandcastle was funded by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the media event was organised in partnership with the borough council.

Council and London 2012 officials who said ‘at no stage was it unstable or unsafe’, but if left unguarded it could have collapsed on someone.

However, Simon Williams, head of the Weymouth and Portland 2012 Operations team, said an ‘organisational decision” had been taken to dismantle the sandcastle, prior to it being built, as a ‘safety precaution’.

He highlighted the success of the iconic image, which was published worldwide including Australia, America and Pakistan.

Mr Williams added: “The aim was to promote the opening of the Games and the sailing events in Weymouth and Portland by providing an iconic photo image made available to media all over the world.

“As a safety precaution the sandcastle was dismantled.

“Images of the sandcastle have generated media interest across the globe.”

A LOCOG spokesman said: “The photo of the giant sandcastle was an exercise to profile Weymouth and Portland as an Olympic venue across the world.

“To ensure we got a great photo and to distribute the photo globally, this needed to be done in advance of April 18 – 100 days to go.

“It was always the plan to erect the sandcastle and then bring it down following the photocall. This was as a safety precaution.

The spokesman added that no public money had been used for the sandcastle and said: “LOCOG is a privately funded company and our budget is raised through ticket sales, merchandising and licensing.”