Government treats itself to £750,000 Olympic tickets (including £26,000 on beach volleyball and nearly £200,000 on the opening ceremony)
* Government bought 410 volleyball tickets for £26,600
* They purchased 213 passes for the opening ceremony and 142 for the closing ceremony
By Rob Cooper
Last updated at 11:39 AM on 7th November 2011
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The Government has spent almost £750,000 on tickets for the Olympics next summer, it has been revealed.
Jeremy Hunt’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport department blew £194,525 of taxpayers’ money on tickets for the opening ceremony alone.
They bought 213 of the sought-after passes - with 41 of them in the highest price band at £2012.12.
Civil servants have also purchased 410 tickets to the beach volleyball which will take place at Horse Guard’s Parade at a cost of £26,600.
Anger: The Government bought £750,000 worth of tickets for the games themselves
Anger: The Government bought £750,000 worth of tickets for the games themselves
GOVERNMENT OLYMPIC TICKET BONANZA
* Opening ceremony - 212 tickets costing £194,525
* Closing ceremony - 142 costing £71,490
Ministers are also separately entitled to working accreditations for the games.
They bought £29,530 worth of passes for the diving - including for sold out events Tom Daley will be taking part in.
1.2 million people who applied missed out on in the ticket lottery altogether. Altogether 1.9million people entered the public ballot.
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Some of the allocation will be made available for civil servants to buy at face value.
However, the rest will be used by politicians to entertain guests and business leaders.
A great view: The Government bought 410 tickets for the beach volleyball - costing £14,295
A great view: The Government bought 410 tickets for the beach volleyball - costing £14,295
The Government also bought 142 tickets for the closing ceremony - costing taxpayers £71,490, according to figures released under freedom of information laws.
£33,085 was spent on 257 passes for the athletics at the Olympic Stadium.
They bought a remarkable 1,020 tickets for the mountain bike cycling in Southend. In addition, they got hold of 226 for the track events, costing £20,785.
Cyclist Bradley Wiggins, 31, told in June how his own family would be forced to watch him in action on television because he had missed out on tickets for his sold out event.
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: 'Hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer is a once-in a-generation opportunity to showcase the UK to a massive international audience.
'We are determined to use this unique opportunity to maximise the economic benefits for the country.
'The Government has purchased 8,815 tickets for the Games - around 0.1 per cent of the 8.8 million tickets available.
'These will be used to invite and accompany a number of international and domestic political and business leaders, as well as guests with a close connection to the Games and its legacy.
‘As we have said before, there will be no free tickets for civil servants, and none available to them for the opening and closing ceremonies.’