The Mayor of London has thrown his weight behind our campaign to get reporters from your local newspaper into the Olympic Games next year.

Challenged about the issue at a public meeting in Sutton last Thursday, Boris Johnson said it was unfair on Londoners not to have their local media covering their athletes’ stories.

He said he had already begun talks with London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) about getting media passes for Newsquest reporters in London to cover the Games.

He said: “I am very confident these talks will have a positive result. I would say it is not a question of if we will get the reporters in, but how many.”

The following day Mr Johnson, out promoting a parenting class at a Battersea school, told a reporter: “We are on the case for the Wandsworth Guardian and we will have tickets. The people of Wandsworth are paying for the Olympics, they deserve to have the coverage.”

So far, almost all regional press applications for passes to the Games have been declined by the British Olympic Association (BOA).

Unless the BOA changes its mind it means that millions of Londoners, who are shelling out for the events to be staged in their city, will not be able to follow the progress of their local athletes on our websites and in our newspapers.

We have written to every MP and London Assembly Member (AM) in our circulation areas and have recieved huge support, with many vowing to help us fight the BOA and win accreditation.

The issue has also been raised in Parliament.