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Ed Sheeran says he's "deeply concerned" about online touts who are selling tickets on his UK tour for up to £1,000 each.

He's asking fans not to buy them for such inflated prices.

The star has teamed up with face value ticket platform Twickets for his April and May concerts.

But dozens of listings have already appeared on secondary ticketing sites offering entry at inflated prices minutes after going on sale.

A representative for Ed Sheeran told the Press Association: "We are vehemently opposed to the unethical practices that occur in the secondary market.

"We have written to each of our partners, be they promoters, venues or ticketing companies detailing the way in which we expect tickets to be sold: direct to fans.

"We have also partnered with a company called Twickets, which is a site aimed at the ethical resale of tickets.

"It allows fans to swap tickets at face value or less; we are pushing them as the official resale partner and a safe place for fans to swap tickets.

"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.

"Once again, we urge all fans to only purchase tickets through official vendors."

Those vendors include Alt Tickets, Amazon, AXS, Gigantic, My Ticket, See Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory and Tickets Scotland, as well as all official venue websites.

Fans have been tweeting about their disgust of touting after failing to get hold of tickets to his 14-date UK and Ireland tour, which were released on Thursday morning.

On secondary ticketing site StubHub, four tickets to his gig at The O2 Arena on 1 May, originally priced at £77, were being offered at £999 each plus booking fees.

A StubHub spokeswoman said: "Owned by eBay, StubHub provides a safe and secure marketplace for fans. Like all marketplaces, the prices are set by sellers and what they think the market will bear.

"Sometimes this is above the original face value but it's important to note that sellers can change their list price at any time before the tickets sell.

"We often see prices decline as an event approaches and on average 40% of tickets on StubHub sell for face value or below."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for eBay confirmed tickets had been removed from the auction website.

The spokesman said: "Tickets for gigs are not allowed on eBay and any listings will be removed."

Last year, Adele announced she was teaming up with Twickets for her sold-out Wembley Stadium concerts after fans paid up to a reported £25,000 for a previous tour.

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