Unauthorised website sells Olympics tickets for up to 8k

Getty

An unauthorised website is selling thousands of tickets for the London Olympics at hugely inflated prices, as millions of Britons are struggling to buy official ones.

Euroteam is selling tickets for 42 events, including gymnastics and athletics.

Tickets for the opening ceremony are on sale for £4,000 each, while some for the closing ceremony are priced at £8,000 each.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has warned buyers to avoid these websites as they are reportedly selling fake and unauthorised tickets.

However Euroteam founder Atle Barlaup told the Sunday Express that he is selling Visa sponsor tickets along with other tickets from "official sources".

The Sunday Express reports that there are 8.8 million tickets available for the Olympics with eight per cent sold to sponsors or stakeholders, including the Government.

This means that around 700,000 sponsor tickets will be available, so it's not unlikely that some will end up on the black market.

Olympic sources admit that they are aware that some tickets allocated to overseas countries are sold illegally.

Mr Barlaup, who is known in Norway as the king of the black market, said: "We have 500 suppliers around the world. For these big events we only work with people we trust 100 per cent, official organised Olympic committees.

"We also work with the official sources who are handing tickets, which are often national organising committees."

A Visa spokesperson said: "Visa does not resell tickets to the Olympic Games. The tickets purchased by Visa for London 2012 will be used for consumer promotions, employee incentives and other business-building initiatives."

But it's not just black market ticket touts who stand to profit from the London Olympics.

Research conducted by Tessa Jowell has found that the cost of hotel rooms in London will quadruple during the 2012 Olympics.

Tessa Jowell, who is the shadow Olympics secretary, researched 60 London hotels and found that, on average, prices will rise by 315 per cent during the games compared with late last month.

One hotel, the Belgravia Mews, was charging £63 for a double room on December 23. The website shows that this will rise to £890 on the night of August 3, once the games have begun.

Tessa Jowell said that these sharp rises undermine the portrayal of London as accessible and affordable.

She said: "These prices are a complete rip-off and it's just not fair for hotels to take advantage of people with these eye-watering Olympic price hikes. Families need to know that they can come to London for the Olympics and stay here at affordable prices."

Click on the image below to see the most expensive hotels in the world...

%VIRTUAL-Gallery-130789%