Lord Coe, the chairman of London 2012, was accused of breaking a promise that unsold and unused corporate tickets would be given to the public, while Sir Menzies Campbell, an observer on the board of Games organisers Locog, described the situation as depressing.Athletes who had been unable to get tickets for their families to watch them compete said it was "absurd" and "ridiculous" that whole blocks of seats remained empty at some venues.
Locog insisted that off-duty soldiers, as well as local schoolchildren and teachers, be taken by bus to venues to help fill the gaps, as Lord Coe ordered an urgent investigation into why so many seats have been empty.
A survey by The Daily Telegraph found that at least 12,000 seats were unused yesterday, not including football stadiums, where tens of thousands of seats have been unoccupied for some matches.
Popular events such as gymnastics, tennis and swimming had swathes of empty seats despite members of the public being told that they were sold out.