• Issue 2

More than 17,000 people have signed a petition to scrap the new logo for the 2012 London Olympics less than 24 hours after it was unveiled. And now the organising committe are to remove the new logo from their website amid fears that it could trigger epileptic fits.

People from across the UK have added their names to the ‘Change the London 2012 Logo' petition which calls on the London Olympic committee to dump the "ridiculous" design.

The new emblem - which is composed of four stylised numerals in a choice of neon pink, blue, orange or green - was commissioned for the committee at a cost of £400,000.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe formally launched the logo in Camden yesterday.

"London 2012 will be 'everyone's games,'" he said.

"This is the vision at the very heart of our brand. It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world."

But opponents of the new design are concerned it is too difficult to read and doesn't represent what the Olympics should stand for.

"The logo is an absolute disgrace, a meaningless bit of juvenile graffiti not worthy of a place on a children's lunchbox," writes Andy Bass of Brighton, petitioner 5,478.

Eighty-five per cent of visitors to a BBC online poll also slammed the design as worthy of a "wooden spoon" rather than a gold, silver or bronze medal.

Despite the backlash, the committee insists the design is here to stay.

"We always expected a bit of healthy debate and not everyone's going to like it," said committee member Adrian Bassett.

"But we didn't just sit in a room on our own and come up with a logo. We talked to our stakeholders and it was a collaborative process," he said.