FREE Olympics tickets for residents “would have been nice”, Harrow Council says after declining to pay for any.

Local authorities across London were offered the chance to buy 100 tickets, costing between £75 and £995, but some councils, including Harrow, have turned down the offer.

Councillor Bill Stephenson, leader of the council, said: “I do not think at a time when we are being forced to make severe cuts to services that this would be a good use of council taxpayers' money.

“However, given how much Harrow residents are paying towards the Olympics it would have been nice for us to have been given a free allocation of tickets which could have been distributed as a reward to deserving residents.”

The Olympics is said to cost council tax payers 38p a week, or around £20 a year.

The 100 tickets will now be made available for purchase as normal.