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An electronic clock counting down the 500 days to the start of the 2012 London Olympics stopped on Tuesday in an embarrassing glitch as the ticket sales process for the Games officially launched.

The clock, made by Olympic worldwide partner Omega and installed in London's Trafalgar Square, stalled at 500 days, seven hours, six minutes and 56 seconds, before counting the wrong way. A technician arrived to repair the clock soon after.

“We are obviously very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue,” read a statement from Omega.

“The Omega London 2012 countdown clock was developed by our experts and fully tested ahead of the launch in Trafalgar Square.

“We are currently looking into why this happened and expect to have the clock functioning as normal as soon as possible.”

A spokesman for London 2012 joked: “Whilst the clock has stopped, and Omega is trying to sort it out, it does not give us additional time to stage the Games.”

The ticketing process for the Games also had a tough day after some sports fans were unable to process their applications due to problems with the online payment system.

The official website accepts only Visa cards, with the credit and debit card giant having snapped up the exclusive rights as a worldwide partner of the Olympics.

However, people trying to use Visa cards that expire before the end of this August were unable to complete the process.

“What Visa is trying to do is to ensure that more people will be able to apply by bringing this threshold forward so that it will only be if your card expires before the end of June that the site will not process your order,” a London 2012 spokesman told the Press Association.

Around 6.6 million tickets went on sale on Tuesday and those interested in applying have until 11pm GMT on April 26 to register their preferences. Payments will be processed between May 10 and June 10.