THE Proclaimers have called on the government to introduce new laws to crack down on "ticket touts" buying up tickets for concerts and re-selling them at high prices.
The popular Scottish band, formed by Charlie and Craig Reid, have criticised sellers for charging "scandalous" prices for tickets for their new tour.
Less than one hour after they went on sale last month, 30,000 tickets for the musical duo's Scottish tour later this year sold out.
Tickets for concerts in Edinburgh, Dunfermline, Perth, Glasgow, Inverness, Dundee, Motherwell and Stirling were bought within minutes.
Herald View: Touts must be stopped from ripping off the fans
The tickets, which have a face value of £35.75, are now being sold on secondary ticket sites such as Stubhub and Viagogo for up to £175.
The 56-year-old brothers told of their frustration at the practice and apologised to fans who had missed out.
In a statement, they said: "Apologies to all the fans who encountered frustrations via the Ticketmaster system and failed to get tickets.
"Sorry also that within minutes we were seeing touts selling tickets at scandalous prices via secondary selling sites.
"This is a terrible situation that affects the whole market place that unfortunately is beyond our control.
"We hope that laws can come into effect as soon as possible to prohibit this practice."
New laws coming into force later this year include a ban on internet 'bots' that buy off tickets in bulk, and measures to force touts to be more transparent.
Herald View: Touts must be stopped from ripping off the fans
However MPs at Westminster have been urged to go further and pass a law that would put a cap of 10 per cent on ticket mark-ups.
The Rolling Stone latest tour, which will see them play a gig at Murrayfield in Edinburgh this summer, has also been targeted by touts who are charging up to £1000 for a ticket.
Last week, the band's spokesman also called on the government to change the law.
He said: "“The law is that you can resell tickets through these horrible secondary marketing companies and individuals who set themselves up as ticket sellers.
"What they do is they speculate.
"That person selling a ticket for £2000 hasn’t got a ticket.
"They haven’t been told they have got a ticket, but they are being cute with the 20 credit cards they’ve got and they’re confident they’ll get them.
"It’s not fans reselling tickets, because each individual needed a special code through the fan club."
He added: "When are the Government going to change the law? It has been going on for 10 years now. We have a situation where the big promoters have set up their own secondary ticket agencies and are all doing it to themselves, which is ridiculous."
The Proclaimers' upcoming UK and Ireland tour will see the twins play a total of 39 dates on top of the summer festival appearances already announced.
Herald View: Touts must be stopped from ripping off the fans
Their new album is set to be recorded in the spring with a summer release date expected.
The Edinburgh-born duo rose to prominence in the late 1980s after appearing on British pop music TV programme The Tube on Channel Four.
Their single Letter from America peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart and their debut album This Is the Story was a top seller.
Their follow-up album Sunshine on Leith featured singles I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), I'm On My Way and title track Sunshine on Leith - all of which have gone on to become anthems.
A well-known stage musical featuring their songs called Sunshine on Leith was created in 2007 and adapted as a feature film bearing the same name in 2013.
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