The UK's Creative Industries Minister has called on eBay to remove auctions on its platform selling tickets for Radio 1's upcoming and rather in demand Big Weekend.
The 35,000 tickets available for the two day Big Weekend event near Preston were distributed by ballot after listeners registered on a special website. As previously reported, demand for tickets was very high, leading to an expansion of the festival site and the release of 5000 more tickets last week. However, such is the continued demand for tickets that some are now on sale on eBay, for up to £400 a pair, even though they were originally distributed for free. Some of those selling tickets are also reportedly offering advice on how to sidestep ID check rules that were designed to stop tickets being resold.
Minister Shaun Woodward told reporters on Friday: "[The resale of tickets] flies in the face of all the hard work that Radio 1 is putting in to stamping out touts at the Big Weekend. 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".
eBay, who, as previously reported, have in the past banned the resale of tickets to Live 8 and the Princess Diana memorial concert, are yet to comment on the Big Weekend tickets. The Radio 1 event takes place this coming weekend, and features headline sets from the likes of The Scissor Sisters, Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs.