Lucky schoolchildren in Merton have scooped 1,796 free tickets for the Olympic and Paralympic games.

Councillor Peter Walker, Merton Council's cabinet member for education, announced the total during an assembly at Harris Academy Merton in Mitcham on Tuesday morning.

said: "All the kids were absolutely thrilled. It's just great news."

Schools across London became eligible for the tickets when they signed up to take part in a sport-themed education programme.

Roughly a third of the Merton allocation will be for the Olympic football events, about a third for the 25 other Olympic sports and the rest for the Paralympics.

A council spokesman said 1403 tickets would be split among 15 secondary schools and colleges, while 393 would go to 40 of the borough's primary schools.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "These are London’s games so it’s only right that the next generation are right at the heart of the action."

A spokesman for the scheme said 125,000 tickets had been made available to the capital's schools.