Third chance to get Olympic tickets

People who have missed out on Olympic tickets are to get an exclusive 24-hour chance to buy them when sales reopen in April (EPA)

People who missed out on Olympic tickets in the first two rounds are to get an exclusive 24-hour chance to buy when sales reopen in April.

London 2012 claims it is trying to keep a pledge to make the frustrated 1.2 million people who were empty-handed from last year's sale a priority.

More than a million tickets are set to become available from April.

A London 2012 spokesman said: "Within that 1.2 million, 20,000 people applied for tickets in the first public sale and missed out, then applied again in the second round and received an email from us saying they were again unsuccessful.

"They are clearly among our biggest fans and will have a 24-hour priority window ahead of the five-day sale to the remaining 1.2 million people."

Ticket issues have proved the biggest headache for organisers. Around 1.2 million people, or two-thirds of applicants, ended up empty-handed after the first round of ticket sales.

Last month London 2012 admitted that thousands of people had been offered tickets to alternative events at the Olympics after an error led to 10,000 too many tickets being sold for synchronised swimming sessions.

PA