George Michael fans desperate to see his Carrow Road concert have been warned not to get ripped off by touts after tickets went on sale at two-and-a-half times their face value on an internet auction site.

George Michael fans desperate to see his Carrow Road concert have been warned not to get ripped off by touts after tickets went on sale at two-and-a-half times their face value on an internet auction site.

Promoters behind the star's concert at Norwich City's ground insisted tickets were still available through the official vendors' websites and hotlines, despite fears that the concert had sold out within hours of going on sale at 10am today.

The show on June 12, which has top-price seats at £100, attracted a surge of interest and meant at least one of the agents sold out of their initial allocation by early afternoon.

Tonight, more than 40 lots of George Michael tickets were for sale on Ebay at up to £375 for two £75 seats, and £175 for a pair of standing tickets that originally retailed at £50 each.

It appears many of these sellers had got hold of tickets 24 hours earlier than the general public in a pre-sale for members of the George Michael fan club, Canaries season ticket holders and previous customers of www.seetickets.com.

Ben Martin, of concert promoters Marshall Arts, said he was unaware that anyone who had bought from the agent before could get hold of George Michael tickets early, but urged fans to sit tight and keep trying over the next few days.

He would not confirm how many tickets had been snapped up today, or how many were still up for grabs, but said sales had gone “very well”.

“I've just been in a meeting about this very subject, and I can tell you that tickets are still available from Seetickets and Ticketmaster,” he said.

“Sales have been incredibly positive and we've had a very strong pick-up from East Anglia as a whole.

“This is a big concert but there are a large number of tickets to sell.

“People may have rung the hotlines today and not got through, but I am looking at the Ticketmaster website now and can see that tickets are available.”

He added that Marshall Arts, which also promoted Elton John's Norwich concert last summer, was trying to stop tickets being snapped up by touts and then sold on at an inflated price on the internet.

“The problem is, it is not illegal to resell tickets for music concerts in that way, only for sports because of the allocation and segregation of home and away fans.

“We will look into this once the concert is completely sold out through the official channels.

“Tickets are still available. Do not use sources like Ebay or purchase them from other box offices that are not our official vendors because they may not be charging the true face value.”

George Michael is one of the world's most successful male artists, has sold more than 85 million records and has hit the British top spot with 11 singles and eight albums.

The Carrow Road date has been seen as a real coup for the club and follows immediately after the star becomes the first to play at the new Wembley Stadium on June 9.

Tickets can be bought by calling the national ticket hotlines 0870 380 0148, 0871 230 5463 and 0871 424 1434 or online at www.seetickets.com and www.ticketmaster.co.uk