Pic: Kevin Hamm

Tickets to five test events for the London Olympics and Paralympics will be available to residents in host boroughs two days before general sale.

Residents will get a 48-hour head start in applying for tickets for hockey, synchronised swimming, water polo, wheelchair tennis and the disability athletics challenge in April and May.

The test events are run as part of the 2012 Olympics testing programme, the London Prepare series, and allows the organisers to evaluate all operations ahead of the Games proper this summer. Previous attempts proved successful when hundreds of Hackney residents saw Sir Chris Hoy win gold at the UCI track cycling event at the Olympic Velodrome last month.

Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: “I want to make sure that Tower Hamlets residents have every opportunity to feel part of the Games. By watching sport played in Olympic venues, residents will not only help the preparation for London 2012, but will also be among the first to see the new facilities in action.”

Similarly, Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney, said: “This early release of tickets means that host borough residents get access before anyone else to see top Olympic athletes compete and gain access to the Olympic park just weeks before the Games begin.”

Tower Hamlets and Hackney residents can apply for tickets on March 13 at 9am by going to ticketmaster.co.uk/londonpreparesseries and entering the priority code LBTHPREPARES for Tower Hamlets and HACKNEYPREPARES for Hackney.

Residents in the host boroughs Waltham Forest, Newham and Greenwich, can also purchase test event tickets early.

The codes are valid for 48 hours only and tickets will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. General sale will begin March 15, 10am.