Business owners were also united in their condemnation of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), after news of the contract award broke this week.

Nicholas Green, founder of Printed.com, said: "What a great shame that, following on from the recent news that 91% of London 2012 souvenirs are being made abroad, these tickets have now also been outsourced to another continent. At a time when the British economy is struggling, this contract would have provided a much needed boost."

A London 2012 spokesman attempted to defend what appears to be a massive own goal by LOCOG, stating that the contract was awarded "following a thorough, competitive and open tender run through Compete For [the olympic tendering website]".

Unite said it was "appalled" that "at a time when thousands of UK print workers continue to lose their jobs in on an annual basis the British Government has decided to grant the Olympic tickets contract worth £16m to an American company".

Steve Sibbald of the Graphical, Paper & Media Sector of Unite said: "This is a slap in the face, a kick in the teeth and a two fingered salute to print workers and businesses in the UK.

"The commercial print industry has been struggling to survive for the last four years and this contract would have been a huge boost to many businesses and their workers.

"I thought that the billions of pounds of taxpayers money spent on the Olympics was supposed to benefit the UK economy not the American economy."

According to reports, nearly all of the 11m tickets for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be printed in Arkansas and shipped to the UK for distribution to ticketholders with a £6 delivery charge.

Sibbald added: "This is the equivalent of 'Bombardier' for the UK print industry."