TICKETMASTER has dealt a blow to the touts after promising to shut down its two official resale sites.

It comes after high profile campaigns, parliamentary inquiries, and anger from artists and fans.

The two sites, GetMeIn and Seatwave would often have tickets for sold-out concerts by stars like Little Mix, Ed Sheeran, Adele, and comics like Ricky Gervais, and Kevin Bridges, being offered for many times their face value.

So-called “armchair touts” would use sophisticated software to harvest hundreds of tickets as soon as they went on sale.

Ticketmaster, owned by the global promoter and venue operator Live Nation, said it would now operate fan-to-fan exchange selling tickets at face value or less.

The sites are due to close down in October.

The firm’s UK managing director, Andrew Parsons, said: “We know that fans are tired of seeing tickets being snapped up just to find them being resold for a profit on secondary websites, so we have taken action.

“Closing down our secondary sites and creating a ticket exchange on Ticketmaster has always been our long-term plan. We’re excited to launch our redesigned website, which will make buying and selling tickets fast and simple, with all tickets in the same place.

“Our new Ticketmaster ticket exchange lets fans sell tickets they can’t use directly through their Ticketmaster account, for the price originally paid or less.”

The UK Government’s digital and creative industries minister Margot James welcomed the move, saying in a statement: “We want real fans to be able to see their favourite artists and events at a fair price. This is a welcome move from Ticketmaster and shows that they’re following our lead and taking a tough stance on cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the secondary ticket market.”

Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, also praised the decision.

“Ticketmaster’s move to close down their secondary platforms and concentrate resale efforts on their primary site is a welcome move,” he said.

“By ensuring that real fans can legitimately and securely resell a ticket, they have put the interests of artists and fans above the touts. I hope that other primary ticket providers will follow suit and tell the touts that their time is up.”

Touts will still be able to sell tickets for a profit on rival services including Viagogo and the eBay-owned Stubhub.

The SNP’s Patricia Gibson, who has campaigned on secondary ticketing sites, said: “The UK Government now needs to take action 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.”

The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers welcomed the news.