Alert on fake show tickets

Oct 20 2006 By Steve Johnson

MIDLAND music fans looking for tickets for sell-out shows were today given an urgent warning over counterfeits after a box office theft.

Hundreds of blank tickets have been stolen from the Wolverhampton Civic Halls box office.

And officials revealed today they were concerned that a series of upcoming sell-out shows - featuring top bands such as Keane, The Raconteurs and The Killers - could be targeted with bogus tickets produced from the blanks.

They warned that music fans should only obtain tickets from authorised sellers - and staff were being put on red alert to watch out for fakes.

Wolverhampton Civic Halls press officer Jonn Penney said today that officials were particularly concerned that counterfeit tickets might surface at eight sell-out shows being held at the Civic Hall over the next six weeks.

He stressed that anyone buying a fake ticket would be refused admission.

Jonn said: "We have had around 200 blank tickets stolen from the box office at the Little Civic, part of the Civic Halls network which includes the Little Civic, Wulfrun Hall and the main Civic Hall.

"We have got eight sell-out shows coming up at the Civic Hall over the next few weeks, beginning with Keane on Sunday.

"The Raconteurs appear on Tuesday, we have New Order on October 29, and The Killers on November 18.

"Tickets for The Killers sold out in 50 minutes so that gig might be a particular target for fake tickets.

"Other sell-out shows are Beverley Knight on November 23, The Zutons on November 27, Paul Weller on November 30 and The Lost Prophets on December 6.

"We attract music fans from a very wide area - we are one of the top venues in the Midlands and headline bands are very keen to play here.

"What we do not want is people buying tickets from touts or on eBay or someone in the pub, forking out what could be an awful lot of money and then finding they are refused entry to the Civic Hall on the night of the concert.

"All our staff are going to be extra-vigilant in the coming weeks and we are tightening up procedures at the Little Civic box office to prevent any thefts in the future," he added.

Anyone offered tickets and in any doubt about their origin is urged to contact the Civic Halls box office on 0870 3207000.