The London 2012 beach volleyball competition, planned for Horse Guards Parade, has received the go-ahead from Westminster City Council.

A temporary stadium, holding 15,000 spectators, will be built in Horse Guards Parade from mid-June 2012.

Horse Guards is famous for hosting ceremonial events like Tropping the Colour. It gets more than 6 million visitors each year.

The Olympic beach volleyball schedule will last for 13 days from late July to early August 2012, and is expected to be one of the most popular at the Games. Ticket prices start at £20.

“I am delighted that we have received permission to go ahead with our plans and thank Westminster City Council for their support,” said London 2012 chairman Lord Coe.

“The London Games will be an amazing experience for athletes, officials and spectators, and I believe that Horse Guards Parade will be one of our most spectacular venues and bring real excitement to the area in 2012.”

Mark Camley, chief executive of The Royal Parks, said, “The eight Royal Parks will host a range of London 2012 Games events and we’re delighted that beach volleyball will take place on Horse Guards Parade in St James’s Park.

“This is the first time it will host an event of this kind.”

Is the beach volleyball one of the events you want to see during 2012? Let us know in the comments below.

Put 15 March 2011 in your diaries: it’s the day tickets to the London 2012 Olympic Games go on sale!

There are 650 sports sessions to choose from, but don’t worry, you’ll have six weeks to make up your mind about which you’d like to attend, as sales are open until 26 April 2011. Oversubscribed sessions will be allocated via a ballot process.

There will be 6.6 million Olympic tickets made available to the general public. Two million people have already signed up to the 2012 ticketing database. If you’re not one of them, make sure you sign up now.

London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe said:

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world’s greatest athletes going for gold in the UK – a chance for people to see their favourite sport and perhaps try a new one.

Tickets to the Paralympic Games go on sale on 9 September.

It’s said to be the largest volunteer recruitment drive since World War Two: have you signed up yet?

According to reports, 100,000 have applied to be volunteer Games Makers during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. If you haven’t done so yet, you’ve got until midnight tonight to fill in the application form.

Despite having only 70,000 places to fill, London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe is still  encouraged people to sign up.

“We will be taking forward applications on merit, ensuring we match the best people to the right volunteer role for them.

“It is not necessarily the first off the blocks that go through and this is not a first come, first served opportunity.”

People from all backgrounds are being encouraged to sign up. London 2012 is particularly keen to welcome people from the disabled and deaf communities.

Games Makers will help out for at least 10 days during either the Olympics or the Paralympics and they’ll need to train for at least three days before the events.

Selection and interviews of short-listed applicants will take place from February 2011 to February 2012 before training for the positions begins.

What are you waiting for? You don’t need us to remind you this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…

London 2012 organisers have opened volunteer recruitment to the public today, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to become involved in the world’s biggest sporting event.

Applications for volunteers, who will be known as Games Makers, opened at 8am today and continue until midnight on 27 October – so there’s only six weeks to apply.

Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG, said: “Volunteering with us will be challenging but the rewards are life-long as our London 2012 Games Makers will literally make history happen.

“We want the best team players in the UK to apply, people who show the same qualities as our athletes including dedication, focus and grace under pressure.

“Whatever your role, you will help welcome the world and show what the UK has to offer. If you have what it takes to be a London Games Maker, apply now!”

There are 70,000 volunteer roles to fill for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with two thirds of the roles generalist volunteer positions. These include welcome desk staff, ticket checkers, costume assistants, drivers and event stewards.

The remaining roles are specialist roles comprising volunteers skilled in medical, press operations and anti-doping sectors -applications are also still open for these roles.

For more information and to apply visit www.london2012.com/volunteering.

Find out why Eddie Izzard thinks becoming a Games Maker is an opportunity not to be missed below:

Although it was only publicised within Britain, in less than two months since London 2012 Olympics tickets registration opened, there has been an overwhelming response. London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe commented: “We are thrilled by the level of interest in our ‘Sign Up’ programme.”

The London 2012 organisers said that the majority of interest has come, as was expected,  from within the UK, with registrations from London and the South East making up 32 and 27 per cent respectively of the figure so far. And around 400,000 of the applicants have expressed interest in watching the Paralympics.

“What has been really interesting is that there has been significant interest across all Olympic and Paralympic sports,” said Coe.

“It should come as no surprise that the British public is so enthused by the prospect of world class sport coming to these shores, but it is pleasing to see that some of the lesser-known Olympic and Paralympic sports are also set to be well supported.”

Olympic tickets go on sale in spring 2011, with average price forecast to be between £40-£50 (US$60-$76).

Sign yourself up today at www.tickets.london2012.com and you’ll be first to find out when the sales process starts.