Local MP Patricia Gibson, has called for the UK Government to take tougher action to tackle ticket touting abuses.

The SNP’s Consumer Affairs spokesperson slammed the touts who deliberately 'mislead consumers', and force genuine fans to fork out hugely inflated sums to see their favourite acts, shows, and sporting events.

Following a House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee inquiry on ticket touts, Patricia urged the UK government to prevent touts from using software to harvest tickets from primary sellers' online sites in order to sell them on at inflated prices.

The MP is also calling on the UK government to undertake a study into the feasibility of introducing a cap on the resale value of tickets to deter extreme profiteering and prevent consumers from being ripped off.

Singer Ed Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp criticised touts for "making extreme profits" after tickets for a Teenage Cancer Trust fundraising gig worth £110 were being resold on secondary ticket platforms for over £5,000.

Commenting Patricia said: “It’s time for the UK government to take tough action. Ordinary consumers are being misled and ripped off, while ticket touts make huge profits at their expense by buying up tickets as soon as they go on sale.

“We need to deter and prevent this kind of profiteering, including a government feasibility study into a cap on the resale value of tickets, and further measures to restrict the use of software that touts are using to harvest swathes of tickets to resell.

“When consumers do purchase tickets from touts, it is vital that they make fully informed choices. Secondary ticketing platforms and sellers must comply with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and provide essential information such as the face value of the ticket, seat location, and any restrictions.

“Too many consumers are currently being exploited with tickets for events grabbed up by touts within minutes and then resold at sky high rates. More needs to be done to protect consumers and put an end to this abuse of the system.”