The Olympics planned for London in 2012 are already perceived by people in the North as the biggest public failure after the Millennium Dome.

Ninety per cent of Northerners believe the Government has not been straight over the financing, with 80 per cent wishing to ring-fence further public liability.

Sixty-eight per cent of Northerners are certain the Olympic site will not be built to the current budget - and are concerned about who foots the bill Yet almost two-thirds still support the Government's decision to "back the bid".

People in the North of England remain highly sceptical about the country's ability to successfully deliver the London Olympics in 2012 and already think it will be the biggest failure after the Millennium Dome, according to a survey of over 400 people by Pentacle, the Virtual Business School - an expert in commercial project management.

Whilst 74 per cent of Northerners feel that the Millennium Dome is the biggest public spending failure in recent years, the Olympics is thought likely to be a bigger failure than projects such as the Wembley Stadium, the new Scottish Parliament building and the Millennium Footbridge. And, in a worrying echo of the plight of the Dome, over half (57 per cent) think that much of the site is likely to remain unused after hosting the 2012 games.

Twice as many people in the North think that the Olympics will be seen as the biggest publicly funded failure in ten years time than think it will be Wembley.

Professor Eddie Obeng, Director of Pentacle, comments: "To be considered a bigger failure than a project that was delivered a year late with vastly inflated costs, is bad news indeed. But Wembley carried far less of a stigma and is of less importance for the general public as a whole, particularly when this is a nationally funded project."

The survey also reveals that people in the North have a markedly more cynical view of Government than Londoners. 90 per cent of Northerners believe the Government has not been "straight" with the public about the required level of funding, while 80 per cent feel that a head contractor should be appointed to "ring-fence public liability". This compares with only 65 per cent of Londoners, suggesting a much deeper crisis in confidence in the North as to the Government's ability to deliver such a project. In fact, 98 per cent of Northerners believe Britain's public authorities are "incapable" of estimating the cost of major public works.

Sixty-two per cent of Northerners are "certain" the Olympics site will not be built to the current budget, with a further 27 per cent "not confident". People in the North are especially concerned about funding, with only the slimmest majority (51 per cent) believing that the country as a whole should foot the bill for the London Games, with 49 per cent believing Londoners should pay.

Exactly two thirds think that lottery money should not be raided to make up the shortfall, whereas over half (56 per cent) of Londoners are comfortable using charity money.

Professor Eddie Obeng comments: "One too many blunders in managing large public projects of this kind have made a huge dent in public confidence. Quite naturally, this is raising some serious questions as to calling on the wallets of hard-working Northerners and raiding charity money. Wanting accountability is natural and having a central figure feels more reassuring, but it is important to remember this usually brings huge delays, as it did to Wembley. It is much more important for the Government to now get this right, break down the project into manageable chunks and let the Olympic Delivery Authority get on with its job."

A glimmer of hope remains - for all these misgivings, nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of those in the North still think the Government made the right decision in backing Lord Coe's bid.

This is reinforced by an overwhelming 85 per cent who believe the Olympics will succeed in bringing significant regeneration to East London.

Professor Eddie Obeng concludes: "Whilst it is terrific to see that there is still support for the Olympics, in spite of the vast number of problems it has faced to date, it is still significant that over a third do not feel the Government should have backed the bid. There cannot be many countries in the world where such a number of people would think staging the Olympics is a bad idea - proof that the Government will need to work hard now to restore public faith.

The Government should think very carefully about how it might pay back lottery money and think much more commercially about how the site may be used after the Games. This could be far more beneficial to regenerating East London than a bunch of lofty ideals".