Around 500,000 tickets for events at the London 2012 Olympic Games have been released for general sale, organisers Locog have said.
There are some £20 tickets left for sports such as volleyball, table tennis, weightlifting, taekwondo, boxing and fencing.
But several sports have sold out, and there are only higher-priced tickets left for most medal events.
The tickets went on sale at 11:00 BST, with a 24-hour window for purchases.
Organisers Locog say there is a good number of tickets at the cost of £45 to £450 in sports including archery, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, canoe sprint, diving, handball and hockey.
A list of sports available as of 11:00 can be viewed on the 2012 ticketing website.
Only a limited number of tickets are available in race walk, mountain biking, artistic gymnastics and rowing.
Up to four tickets can be purchased per session, and up to four sessions in one transaction, for all available sports apart from football - where more tickets are available to encourage groups to attend.
'Delivered on promise'All tickets have been sold in some sports, including athletics, cycling, equestrianism, rhythmic gymnastics and swimming as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
Locog commercial director Chris Townsend said: "Our priority has been to get as many people who missed out in the sales process last year to the Games.
"We have delivered on our promise and now another 150,000 people have successfully purchased up to four tickets each."
He warned: "Wednesday's sale is a live sale, and, like other high demand events including pop concerts, we expect the website to be very busy and customers may well be held in queues for over 30 minutes at peak times".
The online ticketing system sparked criticism last year after it crashed under high demand.
In some cases, the system reportedly informed potential buyers they had secured tickets, who were later told that they had failed.
Meanwhile, plans have been unveiled for a 10,000-spectator area with a giant screen showing live events in the Olympic Park during the Games.
"Park Live" will be open from early morning until late evening for fans without tickets for the sport venues.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
London property prices achieving 100% of asking price - 24dash.com
Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Finance
Residential property in Greater London is achieving 100% of the asking price compared to only 94% a year ago, according to statistics from Move with Us.
The data, collected in the quarter one Residential Property Market Review, also shows a slight increase in asking prices, with buyers paying on average £20,000 more than in March 2011.
The figures suggest that London is still outperforming other areas, and that things will continue to improve in the next quarter.
Robin King, director at Move with Us, said: “Greater London is a robust market and these positive signs of improving sentiment in the area give homeowners hope that quarter two may bring further quantifiable improvements in the housing market.
“It is one of the few regions in the UK to experience declining days to sell compared to March 2011. Coupled with significantly reduced discount levels at sale and increases in asking prices the market in this region is much stronger than most.”
Source: www.24dash.com
London Welsh denied chance of promotion to the Premiership - The Guardian
London Welsh have failed to meet the minimum standards criteria for a place in the Premiership and would therefore not be eligible for promotion to the top flight, the Rugby Football Union has announced.
"The Rugby Football Union's Board of Directors has considered the findings of the independent audit report requested by London Welsh, which determines a club's eligibility for promotion to the Aviva Premiership in line with the Minimum Standards Criteria (MSC)," read an RFU statement.
"The report, carried out by independent auditors, found that London Welsh has not met the MSC for the Aviva Premiership. The independent auditors identified various failures, including not having Primacy of Tenure at their nominated ground. This states that a club must demonstrate that they can host home fixtures at the time stipulated by Premiership Rugby and/or the host broadcaster.
"The RFU Board ratified the findings and agreed, should London Welsh win the RFU Championship final following the second leg on May 30, they would not be eligible for promotion and Newcastle Falcons would remain in the Aviva Premiership.
"Cornish Pirates did not choose to have an independent audit of the Mennaye Field and so do not fulfil the criteria for promotion should they win the final. As a result, there will be no promotion from the RFU Championship this season."
London Welsh have two weeks in which to appeal the decision.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
London Book And Poetry Events: 23-29 May - Londonist
Wednesday: Rachel Caine talks books and vampires at Foyles from 6.30pm (free, but reservations recommended).
Sarah Butler, Sangeeta Bhargava, Tina Sederholm, Paul Askew, Kate Walton, Marc Nash, Davy Mac, Clare Waters and Davy Mac look at our colloquial past at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5).
GREEdS hosts the latest Jawdance at Rich Mix, with Abir Ibrahim, Selina Nwulu, Laurie Bolger and Anthony Fairweather (7.30pm, free).
Thursday: Marina Warner and Hanan al Shaykh discuss bringing the Arabian Nights into the 21st century, at the Festival of Asian Literature (6.45pm, £10 / £8).
Mark Niel and Paul Lyalls are the guest poets at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £5).
Mark 200 years of Edward Lear with a night of nonsense poetry at the Poetry Cafe (7pm, free).
Mexican poet Homero Aridjis reads from his work at the Swedenborg Society (7pm, free). Ali Smith reads English translations.
Friday: Celebrate five years of Caught By The River at the Southbank Centre, with Tim Burgess, Roy Wilkinson, John Andrews, Michael Smith, Chris Yates and Richard King (7pm, £17.50).
Do you know where your towel is? You might need it if venturing to the Vogon Poetry Slam at Hackney Picturehouse Attic (7.30pm, £5 / £3 in costume or with towel).
Have lunch with Paul French and Misha Glenny at the Festival of Asian Literature (1pm, £15 / £12).
Farrago mark the time of year with an Exam Blues SLAM, with performances from Brother Niyi, Keith Jarrett, Hollie McNish, Rhys Rodger, Hannah Joshua and Lori King (7.30pm, SLAM sign-up from 7pm).
Saturday: Cassandra Clare talks about her latest book, City of Lost Souls, with Shades of London author Maureen Johnson at Theatre Royal Stratford East (2pm, £8 / £13 including copy of book).
Liz Berry, Jenna Butler and Nancy Mattson are the poets performing in St Mary’s church crypt on Upper Street (7pm, £4).
Sunday: Celebrate the work of former laureate John Masefield at Keats House (3pm, £5 / £3).
Monday: The Festival of Asian Literature looks at the Arab Spring, with Ahdaf Soueif, Kamin Mohammadi, Paul Mason and Mishal Husain (6.45pm, £10 / £8).
Kate Mosse talks to Rosamund Lupton about getting published, and then chairs a panel of agents and publishers in a writers clinic, for an Orange and Grazia event at the Southbank Centre (6.45pm, £10).
Ivor Game and Wendy Shutler have some summery poems at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5 / £3.50).
Tuesday: Authors shortlisted for the Not-Going-To-Be-Called-Orange-Much-Longer Prize – Esi Edugyan, Anne Enright, Georgina Harding, Madeline Miller, Cynthia Ozick and Ann Patchett – read from their nominated books at the Southbank Centre (7.30pm, £12).
Glyn Maxwell gives a talk based on his new collection of essays, On Poetry, at Keats House in Hampstead (6.30pm, free but email the Poetry Society to reserve a place by Friday).
James Sallis talks about his new book Driven, a sequel to Drive (now a major motion picture, so the saying goes) with Iain Sinclair at Belgravia Books (7.30pm, £5).
Perform your own work at the Poetry Cafe’s open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4). Niall O’Sullivan hosts.
Mohammed Hanif, Madeline Thien, Nikita Lalwani, Kim Thuy and Claire Armitstead bust some stereotypes at the Festival of Asian Literature (6.45pm, £8 / £7).
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.
Source: londonist.com
London 2012 Olympics torch passes over Clifton Suspension Bridge - Daily Telegraph
The Grade I listed structure, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was opened in 1864 and is considered to be the symbol of the city of Bristol.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Essex fire crews to vote on strike action - thurrockgazette.co.uk
Essex fire crews to vote on strike action
12:42pm Wednesday 23rd May 2012 in News By Matt Abbott
THE Chief Fire Officer in Essex has urged firefighters to think carefully before they cast their vote in a ballot over strike action.
Firefighters across Essex are to vote on potential strike action from today as ballot papers are sent out.
By law, crews cannot strike before June 20, seven days after the ballot closes but industrial action could be taken on or soon after this date.
The Essex Fire Brigade Union says the ballot is necessary because the fire authority is imposing changes whilst also planning further cuts.
If proposed cuts to crews are implemented, it would mean that since 2008, one in five frontline fire crews have been cut.
Firefighter response times in Essex are already down one minute on the national average since 2008 and Essex FBU is warning that response times might increase again with the next wave of budget cuts.
In Thurrock, a wholetime specialist rescue crew has already been removed from Grays since 2008 and Del Godfrey-Shaw is concerned that there could be more cuts in the future.
Mr Godfrey Shaw, a firefighter at the Grays station and regional official for the FBU said: “We can’t specifically say where job cuts will be. It could be any where where managment may reduce watch.
“That could be here in Thurrock, it could be in Tendring it could be anywhere. We don’t know.
“There is lots of uncertainty and lots of frustration amongst firefighters here.”
The FBU say that whilst there have been cuts to front line fire crews, millions of pounds of tax payers money is being spent on expansion of the headquarters.
In a short video to firefighters, David Johnson, the Essex Fire Brigade chief officer called potential strike action “unfair on communities we serve”. He said: “We are a very good fire rescue service with some of the best firefighters and best equipment in the world.
“I need you to work with me to keep that going. We are ready to sit down and talk to to the FBU to resolve this dispute.
“I would urge you to support us in that.”
Mike Rogers, FBU brigade secretary said: “Essex fire crews are furious at what is going on and will be giving their verdict on cuts and imposed changes.
“Managers need to get their heads out of the sand and realise the strength of feeling.
“There is still time enough to resolve the issues between us and we are now asking the Chair to the Fire Authority to use his good offices to remove the barriers to serious talks getting underway.”
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Source: www.thurrockgazette.co.uk
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