The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) recently revealed that the number of tickets available on its online portal has swelled from 300,000 to over eight million. The rise in tickets also includes the Paralympics, which has gone up from 500,000 to two million. The increase was due to the shortening of some sporting events, such as beach volleyball, which are still awaiting approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

There are around six million passes that will be made available to the public in the official Olympic Games ballot, while 1.5 million tickets for the Paralympics will go on sale. The polls are scheduled to begin next year and LOCOG is currently advising the public to register their interests into the Olympics website.

Both Britons and EU nationals are eligible to apply, and the Olympic organiser assured that there will be lots of affordable tickets for the event. LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton said that one of the main goals of the scheme is to let Brits participate in the event.

Deighton stressed that people are not allowed to resell Olympic tickets above there face value. For now, the Olympic organiser however has not yet set the price, nor a limit on the number of tickets a single person can request in the ballot.

Meanwhile, overseas customers can use the normal buying of tickets through their National Olympic Committees. The general public can also purchase some of the tickets through Olympics sponsors, and several travel agents like Thomas Cook, Mike Burton-Sodexo and Jet Set Sports.

The registration scheme is open for the next 12 months, with the Olympic ballot due to begin in spring of 2011.