Ed Sheeran cancels 10,000 concert tickets in war against predatory touts

Ed Sheeran is doing his bit to crack down on ticket touts who exploit fans. The Shape Of You hitmaker has cancelled 10,000 tickets that were being sold on resale sites at extortionate prices.

Tickets recently went on sale for the 26-year-old chart topper's 2018 European tour, which will see him play 25 dates in cities including Belfast and Munich in support of his third studio album, ÷ (Divide).

Within hours, thousands of tickets for the Wembley gigs were relisted on resale sites like StubHub and Seatwave for up to eight times the face value.

The Mirror reports that the tickets, which originally went on sale for £49 to £88, have now been put back on sale on by official vendors. The move will give fans scrambling to see him live in concert a second chance at an affordable price.

"Most ­profiteering companies heeded promoters' warnings not to trade and resell tickets that would instantly be cancelled. This resulted in 90% of tickets being delivered into fans' hands at the face value," his rep said in a statement.

"The process of analysing sales and cancelling tickets purchased for purposes for resale will continue until the tour takes place."

This is not the first time the musician and his team, who have a strict stance against anyone using the secondary market for profit, has been forced to take action. Earlier this year he partnered with Twickets.co.uk, which allows fans to swap tickets at face value or less, in order to protect fans from the "unethical practices" of greedy touts.

"We are aware and deeply concerned about the websites in question and have urged all fans not to engage with them in order to avoid being ripped off with higher prices or, potentially, counterfeit tickets, his rep said in a statement back in February. "Once again, we urge all fans to only purchase tickets through official vendors."