TICKETS for sell-out live shows of cult comedy Little Britain are changing hands for hundreds of pounds on the Internet.

Matt Lucas and David Walliams bring their surreal band of TV characters to Newcastle City Hall next year as part of a national tour.

The original run at the 2,100 capacity venue, from November 21 to 23 next year, sold out in hours, with fans keen to see obnoxious teen Vicky Pollard, Lou and Andy, and Daffyd, the only gay in the village.

And last week, because of the huge demand, organisers added two more dates at the venue, on January 25 and 26, 2006.

Though a handful of single tickets for the January shows are still available from the city hall, priced £24.50 or £22.50, Internet vendor getmetickets.net is offering seats for up to £175.

It confirmed yesterday it was selling balcony seats for £75, or £175 for a seat in row ten of the stalls.

A spokesman for Newcastle City Council, which operates the city hall, said: "Promoters are responsible for the allocation of tickets and we have no control over it."

Auction website ebay is also offering Little Britain tickets for sale at several-times their box office price.

The most expensive on ebay are for shows in the South, with one vendor setting a £299 reserve price for a date in Ipswich, while tickets for shows in Manchester and Birmingham are trading at about £150.

Only a handful of tickets for the November shows in Newcastle are available online, with most reasonably priced.

The city hall box office can be contacted on 0191-261 2606.

Published: 08/12/2004