by political editor Paul Francis

Sports minister and Kent MP Hugh Robertson has defended the way Olympic tickets have been allocated amid reports that one million applicants have been left empty handed.

The lottery system used for the ticket allocation has drawn widespread criticism as it emerged that the huge demand to see the 2012 games had meant disappointment for many.

Mr Robertson, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, said: "I absolutely understand people feeling disappointed and angry but the central problem here is that we had 6.8million tickets and 20 million applications.

"I am afraid with those numbers, you are going to get people who feel disappointed."

But he said the system devised by organisers of the games was fairer than any other and pointed out that no-one had criticised it initially.

"There was no criticism at the time we announced the process and we only aw criticism when people did not get tickets.

"No other scheme has been proposed that would be a better way of doing this."

He said those who missed out on the first round would still have opportunities to secure tickets as there were a further three stages in the process.

"There are at least three more parts of the process – this is not the end of the road."

Those who applied for tickets in the first round will get priority in the second stage of the process at the end of the month.

The MP revealed he too was among those who had not been allocated any tickets.

"I applied for tickets for my wife and family but I did not get any either."

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