CHANNEL NINE learned last night that its reporters will be allowed to continue working in Beijing after the station was caught illegally filming inside an Olympic venue.

Nine had formally apologised for an "inadvertent mistake" and promised that none of the footage taken would go to air.

Channel Seven, which has invested $100million in its Beijing coverage, was upset that the Nine crew was caught filming inside the aquatic centre, the Water Cube, as the Australian team prepared for its first training session on Monday evening. It filed an official complaint to the IOC to investigate the breach.

Nine was nervously awaiting a decision by the International Olympic Committee last night, but it is understood Seven dropped its complaint. An IOC spokeswoman, Giselle Davies, said the parties had come to an agreement "and we're pleased that is the case".

In previous cases in Beijing, crews have been stripped of their accreditation, which in China doubles as the country's visa. A removal of accreditation would have forced Nine's reporters Damian Ryan and Michael Usher, as well as a cameraman, to leave the country.

Ryan, who was with the cameraman inside the venue, said: "It was an innocent thing. No harm was meant by it. As soon as it was pointed out to us we shouldn't be there I realised what we had done and we left straight away."