THE company at the centre of the Commonwealth Games booking fiasco is in "advanced discussions" about taking over contracts currently operated by Glasgow-based Ticket Soup.

Staff at Ticket Soup's headquarters in the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) are understood to have been told they will learn the outcome within weeks, amid fears the deal could see jobs axed.

Ticket Soup currently handles bookings for hundreds of entertainment venues across Scotland, including the SECC and Hydro in Glasgow, and Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh.

Details of takeover talks come amid an investigation into technical difficulties that engulfed the Glasgow 2014 booking system within hours of 100,000 new tickets going on sale on Monday, resulting in transaction errors and people waiting up to 25 hours online to secure tickets.

The crisis led organisers to instruct London-based Ticketmaster to pull the plug on the booking website and call centre on Tuesday night until the problems can be resolved.

It has also emerged that tickets for the Rugby World Cup will not go on sale as planned today because Ticketmaster has asked for more time to test its system in the wake of the latest issues.

Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, said the situation had been completely unacceptable.

She added: "My worry is that if it's all under one banner these problems could arise again, and also the staffing issue. Are staff guaranteed to keep their jobs if this merger goes ahead? "

Ticketmaster previously faced criticism over its handling of ticket sales for the London 2012 Olympics, which was plagued by computer glitches.

A Ticket Soup spokesman said: "We are assessing our ticketing operations and strategy and advanced discussions are taking place with Ticketmaster. No agreement has been finalised. This is part of a wider ticketing review considering technology, systems, staffing and procedures to ensure ticketing remains a viable and profitable part of our business."