Be open about Olympic tickets

Franes Done said London should avoid the mistakes of Sydney 2000 Olympics, which saw organisers hold back some tickets a move that resulted in accusations of seats being reserved for the wealthy.

"London should be really clear when they launch a strategy what is happening with the total," she said.

"If you don't give that full story, and Sydney learned this, then people feel shortchanged."

Ms Done said: "You look at how many seats we had - 1.17million - and take out ones for media and broadcast, and tickets allocated under the agreements of the IOC, for VIPs and visiting presidents for example, as well as seats for athletes.

"That left just under a million seats. Then you take out sponsors, corporate hospitality and overseas operators, so the figure to the public would be between 70 and 75 per cent of the total.

"It's important this is explained. You have to show why these seats are not available to the public."

Ms Done was talking last week at the economic development, culture, sport and tourism committee, which is looking into how organisers can maximise money from ticket sales without excluding Londoners.

Manchester had a vast difference in ticket prices, ranging between £165 to under £5, to make it affordable for locals.

Although it would not always be possible for Londoners to get tickets, Ms Done said it should not stop them being part of the Games.

She urged the capital's individual boroughs to make sure Londoners benefited.

"In Manchester some boroughs picked it up and ran with it even though they had no events in their area," she said.

"It's what made the biggest difference. Everyone in Manchester still talks about the Games.

"There were live sites around the city centre and organised community events. Big screens were in their infancy at the time but it still worked really well."