ATLANTA. Aug 7: Street vendors angry that they lost money during the Olympics confronted Atlanta city officials on Tuesday, complaining they were misled about how many visitors would buy their wares, reports Reuter.

The Atlanta City Council held a special session to hear from vendors who said they face financial disaster because officials diverted pedestrian

traffic away from their booths.

Dave Singh, who has filed a 5 million dollars lawsuit against the city and Olympic organisers, said he sold only 2.400 dollars in merchandise after spending 45.000 dollars on city permits. He said city officials closed off the streets where his four booths were located after telling him 600.000 people would walk by them everyday.

Almost 400 vendors were licensed to sell everything from icecream and sausages to T-shirts and-handcrafted items at city-owned locations near the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Village. But a areas promoted as being padestrain walkways were left open to vehicle traffic, while other streets were completely barri-cated.

Vendors' along historic Auburn Avenue, the birthplace of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., complained that city officials discouraged tourists from leaving the area surrounding Centennial Olympic Park.

Street vendors who wanted to set up shop during the Olympics had to deal with . Munson Stead, a cart vendor in underground Atlanta, who was Iasi year given the exclusive right to lease vending sites.

Steed is a friend of mayor Bill Campbell, who hired Steed to print T-shirts for his 1993 political campaign. He was unable to obtain the letter of credit required under his contract with the city, but was allowed to proceed after producing 2.5 million dollars in cash and contractual commitments.”

When Olympic sponsors, he reduced his total revenue prediction for all vendors' from 25.2 million dollars, to 7.3 million dollars.

Former mayor Andrew Young. co-chairman of the Atlanta Commjttee for the Olympic Games (ACOG). said this week that vendors "paid too much for their licenses" and had unrealistic expectation.

"Everybody thought that three million people were coming here and all three million people would (come by their stand," Young Said. “We cautioned people for four years against excessive expectations and certainly against greed. The market is a cruel judge."

ACOG chairman Billy Payne predicted Atlanta's example would mean tougher restric- . lions on how future host cities market the Games.

"The street vending programme got totally out of ha nd." said ACOG chairman Billy Payne. The Impression was left of tacky commercialism, which is something the IOC and the Olympic movement has tried to keep under control.'