LONDON - LONDON 2012 organisers on Monday defended the signing of a 20 million pound (S$50.7 million) sponsorship deal with confectionery giant Cadbury.

The deal has been criticised by the National Obesity Forum for promoting the sale of chocolate bars when the Games are supposed to encourage active lifestyles.

London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton insisted however the company would take a responsible approach.

'Their ideas of how they would work in the community are very powerful and they are putting in a considerable amount of cash into this deal, which is ultimately what pays for the Games.

Cadbury have been announced as a 'tier two' sponsor, giving them the right to use the London 2012 marks on their products, marketing rights to the British Olympic and Paralympic teams and the right to sell sweets and ice cream at Games venues.

Mr Todd Stitzer, Cadbury's chief executive, pledged that the company would not be handing out free chocolate bars during the Games, and would be stressing the importance of enjoying treats as part of an active lifestyle.

He said: 'Treats can be consumed responsibly - the key is how to balance consumption of treats and physical activity.'

The new deal means London 2012 are closing in on their 650 million pounds domestic sponsorship target - they are two-thirds of the way to that target.

Mr Deighton added: 'We all came back from Beijing with a spring in our step and this has been replicated in the commercial sector - there has been a surge of interest in London 2012.

'We have now raised over 430 million pounds, which is well on our way to our domestic sponsorship target as we seek to raise the 2 billion required to stage the Games in 2012.'

Mr Deighton said London's early approaches to tier one sponsors such as Lloyds TSB had paid off as the deals were in place before the global financial crisis hit and could not be renegotiated.