Australian fake Olympics ticket couple helped by donor

A man has offered his spare Olympic seats to a couple who travelled from Australia to watch the boxing but found their original tickets were fakes.

Ann and Graham Smith travelled to London from the Gold Coast in east Australia, but found their tickets had been bought from a bogus website.

After reading their story, a man from south-west London, who wants to remain anonymous, contacted the couple.

Mr Smith said: "I'm overwhelmed by his generosity."

When the couple discovered their original tickets were bogus, Mrs Smith said: "My husband's just devastated - he was crying yesterday."

"When my sister called 118 for the contact number of the website we bought tickets from, they told us there was a note on the system saying it was a bogus ticketing website.

"The Olympics was the main reason for coming over."

The ticket donor, from Richmond, read about their story on the BBC News website, and contacted the couple.

Mrs Smith told him: "I am so delighted that we will still have the opportunity to go to an Olympic event.

"I am sure that your generosity will be rewarded in life."

Meanwhile, Chen Guanming, the man who cycled his rickshaw all the way from China to London for the Games, made it to the opening ceremony.

Mr Chen had said his aim was to take part in the opener, after spreading the "Olympic spirit" on a two-year trip crossing 16 countries.

While he did not achieve a part at short notice, he did get to watch from inside the stadium after a Chinese person in London saw his story and offered him a ticket.

Mr Chen was also given a ticket to watch the badminton competition on Saturday by event company ATP Event Experts, after his story was broadcast on Dutch radio.