Swimmer's parents in ticket scam

Rebecca Adlington practices at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing

The parents of a British Olympic swimmer could miss out on seeing their daughter compete for a medal.

Rebecca Adlington's parents, Kay and Steve, said they spent nearly £1,100 on tickets they ordered from a website, which turned out to be a scam.

Mr Adlington has obtained other tickets, but the seats have restricted views so they may miss seeing Miss Adlington, from Mansfield, Notts, swim.

The gold-medal prospect is in three Olympic events starting on Sunday.

Kay Addlington paid £1,100 for tickets to see her daughter compete

Mr and Mrs Adlington ordered the tickets from beijingticketing.com in January and they were due to be delivered in late July.

Mrs Adlington said: "We have had an e-mail in the last 48 hours saying we are part of a big ticket scam and now they do not have the tickets.

"We are feeling pretty despairing as we do not know what to do and just want to watch her swim.

"The ticket scam has robbed us of the chance to see Becky hopefully fight for a medal."

The 19-year-old swimmer is ranked number one for the 800m event.

Mr Adlington said: "We may have to get some tickets from touts, which you are told not to do.

"But let's face it, when your daughter is in there, ranked number one, you would do anything to get in there and see her swim."