Seizure claim hits Olympics website

Allegations were made on the BBC that footage involving a diver plunging into a pool had already caused seizures.

A London 2012 spokeswoman said: "We have just been notified of the problem and we have taken immediate steps to remove the animation from the website. We will now re-edit the film."

The footage controversy follows widespread ridicule surrounding the 2012 logo. The bold, jagged £400,000 brand, which is a modern take on the Olympic colours, took a year's research, including consumer testing. Organisers have hailed it as dynamic and vibrant, but other people have said it resembles a "toileting monkey" or a "broken swastika".

Speaking on BBC London News about the promotional footage, epileptic photo sensitivity expert Graham Harding said: "We now know of eight cases of which seizures have occurred. What it appears has happened is that the flash rate of the diving sequence contravenes the Ofcom guidelines."

BBC London reported that a number of sufferers had already contacted charity Epilepsy Action to say that they have been affected by the original pictures.

One caller told its programme how the video resulted in his girlfriend being treated in hospital after suffering from an epileptic fit.

Speaking on BBC London 94.9, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "I mean if you employ someone to design a car and it kills you, you're pretty unhappy about that. If you employ someone to design a logo for you and they haven't done a basic health check you have to ask what they do for their money."

A London 2012 spokeswoman said the concerns surrounded a piece of animation shown at the launch of the logo and recorded by broadcasters.

Emphasising that it was not the logo itself which was the focus of health worries, she said: "This concerns a short piece of animation which we used as part of the logo launch event and not the actual logo."