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Fiji Time: 6:44 PM on Monday 20 May

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Probe into Blunkett seat

Pa
Monday, September 03, 2012

LONDON - The London Games organisers are looking into how former home secretary David Blunkett came to be refused access to his seat at the Paralympics opening ceremony because he had his guide dog with him.

Mr Blunkett, who was attending as a guest of Games broadcasters Channel 4, said he was told by a "stroppy and insensitive" official that he could not take up his allocated place because it was unsuitable for his dog, Cosby.

The veteran Labour MP, who has been blind since birth and is one of the country's most high-profile guide dog users, said he was eventually found an alternative seat behind the TV cameras "on a gantry exposed to an increasingly chill wind".