Make sure you have cash for tickets today, 2012 fans told

ALMOST two million applicants for Olympic tickets have been advised to ensure they have sufficient funds in their accounts as the first payments are taken today.

Games chiefs will begin to charge bank accounts and credit cards from the 1.8 million applicants. The first payments were due to be taken last week but have been delayed by the demand.

All applicants will be informed towards the end of next month of the allocation. They have been advised not to worry if funds are not taken over the coming days as the system takes payments randomly. Stephen Hunt, an insolvency practitioner by trade, bid for £36,000 worth of tickets.

"I paused when I saw how much I was applying for...but the chances of getting one ticket out of that lot is quite small," he told the BBC. "The odds of me getting all of them are hundreds of billions to one."