The British Hospitality Association (BHA) has backed down in the dispute between LOCOG and the hotel chains threatening to pull their Olympic allocations.

A number of hoteliers are unhappy about rooms they offered to LOCOG at preferential rates being sold on at up to ten times the price by third party retailers, Thomas Cook and CoSport. These include Whitbread, Starwood and Thistle, who had all threatened to tear up their contracts if an agreement could not be reached.

The BHA stepped in, holding talks with LOCOG, but has now agreed to take a back seat and allow the committee to resolve the disagreements with the hotels directly.

A spokesman for the BHA said: “LOCOG is now in discussions with individual hotel companies, who are resolving the issue on a case by case basis. As a result, we have rather taken a back seat now that companies are resolving the issue individually.”

It is rumoured that LOCOG has offered some hotel companies compensation, although it would not confirm this and Whitbread, Starwood and Thistle would only state they were ‘still in discussions’.

A Thistle spokesperson added: “Thistle Hotels continues its strong working relationship with LOCOG and remains committed to the obligations defined within the original contractual agreement.”