London 2012: Locog Ticket Website Under Strain After Demand Soars

Golden Tickets: 25 Million Attempt To Get To The Games

There's one thing more valuable than an Olympic gold medal - a ticket to watch someone win one.

In the aftermath of Team GB's successful first week, millions people are logging one to buy the coveted tickets, with six days of the Games to go.

Locog's ticket website had 25million hits on Sunday, and the Daily Mail reported fans queued for more than eight houses at official resellers to get their hands on tickets, including the Czech House in Islington and the French Olympic headquarters on the Thames.

A fan wears a British themed mask at the canoe sprint competition in Eton Dorney

Even the remaining tickets to the closing ceremony, which had cost between £995 and £1,500, appeared to be sold out on Monday.

Locog put another 275,000 tickets on sale last Wednesday, including 200,000 for unsold football matches, but not all have been put on the site at the same time.

Around 9,000 tickets have been reclaimed from unused VIP seats.

Fans have been told to keep logging on to the website regularly, and tech entrepreneur Adam Nasibitt has built a Twitter app that informs fans when tickets go on sale, @2012TicketAlert. The app was blocked last week by Ticketmaster, which runs the official ticket site, but restored over the weekend after an outcry from users.

A spokesman for the company said: “Once Adam Naisbitt approached Ticketmaster and Locog, and we were able to establish that the activity was legitimate, we discussed with him the best way to re-enable access without compromising the performance of the website or the experience of consumers.

"We have now unrestricted @2012ticketalert and we will to continue to remain focussed on ensuring that the London 2012 website can sell as many tickets as possible to get even more sports fans to the Games. This demonstrates Ticketmaster's continued commitment to customer service".

Mr Naisbitt, who is asking users who obtain tickets through his service to donate to the British Olympic Foundation, said: "They've looked at the program we're using and agreed that the impact on their server's is so small that they are happy to whitelist it.

"This is great for two reasons, one we can start helping people to get tickets again, and two we've avoided the negative situation of having to try and circumvent the blocks they introduced. It's the perfect outcome.

"Thank you all for every retweet and reply - it really made a huge difference to a lot of people trying to get tickets, kudos to you all."

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said things were also picking up for central London businesses. , with the London Underground carrying more passengers on Friday than any day in its history - 4.4 million. West End tube stations saw an increase of 27 per cent on Saturday night.

“This jaw dropping weekend of outstanding sporting success for Team GB has seen many hundreds of thousands of people travelling to 2012 venues and crowds several deep lining the streets to cheer on Triathlon and Marathon competitors," said Johnson.

Shoppers in Regents Street, central London, which has begun to see an increase in visitors

"Now London’s transport network is continuing to put in some record breaking performances of its own as it moves people into and across the city. This is testimony to years of meticulous planning and billions of pounds in investment which combined has ensured that athletes, spectators, officials and media are being ferried smoothly to their events.

“Not only this, but these indicators show that across London we are helping millions of people head into town to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy all that our fantastic city has to offer during this momentous period.”

Close

What's Hot