LONDON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — U.K. Creative Industries Minister Shaun Woodward has requested that online auction site eBay remove tickets for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend music festival, after several tickets appeared on the site at prices as high as £400 a pair with some listings detailing how to evade ID checks.
The festival allocated 35,000 free tickets by ballot, expecting fans to abide by the rules if they received the ticket for free.
“This flies in the face of all the hard work that Radio One is putting in to stamping out touts at the Big Weekend,” said Woodward, according to the BBC News.
“Ebay should stop selling the tickets – the artists are not making money from this free event, so why should the touts?
“Demand for this event is outstripping supply by more than ten to one, and the BBC has decided that people should get tickets on the basis of how lucky they are, not how much money they have.”
A spokesman for eBay told the BBC that, “The resale of concert tickets is perfectly legal and legitimate and it is eBay’s policy to allow this.
“We note the points raised in Shaun Woodward’s letter and will respond in due course.
“We remain committed to discussing with the government the many issues surrounding the secondary ticket market.”
Radio 1’s Big Weekend will feature headliners The Scissor Sisters, Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs, among several other acts, on May 19-20. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
