Online Ticket sales London Olympics

The vast majority – 96 per cent – of registrations came from UK residents. Of the UK applications, 32 per cent came from the Greater London area, a further 27 per cent from the South East of England, and 41 per cent from the rest of the country.

London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe said the organisers were “thrilled” at the response. "It should come as no surprise that the British public is so enthused by the prospect of world class sport coming to these shores. I would urge people to continue to sign up and ensure they are in the front row for information between now and 2012."

The London Organising Committee of the 2012 Olympic Games (LOCOG) have made available an extra 300,000 seats in a move to avoid the empty stadiums seen at the 2008 Beijing Games.

LOCOG said ticket numbers were raised from 7.7 million to 8 million and an extra 500,000 tickets were made available for the Paralympics, bringing the overall total to 10 million.

"We are completely committed to ensuring our events are accessible, that tickets are affordable and that our venues are packed to the rafters with sports fans," said LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton.

Three-quarters of tickets will be available directly to people living in Britain and the EU via a ballot process. Of the remaining 25 percent, about 8 per cent will go to sponsors, 13 per cent to international fans and sports organisations and 4 per cent to hospitality and travel companies.

Deighton added LOCOG would be looking to squeeze out ticket touts so affordable tickets ended up in the hands of real sports fans.

Pricing details have yet to be released but tickets will go on sale from spring 2011.