Women warned to buy ticket for unborn Olympics babies

The 2012 organisers have said every child, including small babies carried in their parents’ arms, must have their own ticket or they will be excluded from the Games.

A press spokesman admitted the Olympics helpline had received calls from pregnant women and expectant fathers whose babies will just be a few weeks old when the Games commence.

They have been told they can try and buy an extra ticket for their chosen event, otherwise the infant will be prevented from entering the venue.

The issue has attracted fury on the Mumsnet website in the last few weeks, with parents saying they are being forced to pay full price for babies not yet born.

Some are doubting whether extra tickets will be available for the popular events they are attending.

One woman described it as the “biggest rip-off in the history of London” while others wondered what to do with babies they will be breastfeeding.

The issue arose as a Government Minister admitted that the door was still open for a football club to buy the Olympic Stadium at some point in the future.

Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson suggested that it would be some time in the future as the current tender process for the venue in Stratford, east London, is for it to be publicly owned but leased out and used for a mixture of sporting events.

He told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee: “It is not our intention that it should remain in public ownership indefinitely.”

It could be possible for a club to have a change in owner who wants to gain control of the stadium in which they play, Mr Robertson explained.

They could then effectively buy the stadium but inside that there would be a lease agreement that protects all the rights of UK Athletics and any other legacy users who had signed up to it as part of the original deal over the stadium use.

West Ham’s deal to move to the stadium collapsed amid concerns over delays caused by a legal dispute with Tottenham and Leyton Orient.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company, Government and London mayor instead came to the agreement that the stadium, which will keep its running track, will be leased.