Andrew Lloyd Webber tackles West End ticket touts

Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced he is to join forces with ticket resellers Twickets in a bid to beat touts.

The theatrical grandee, whose LW playhouses include The London Palladium and the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, hopes the move will bring consumer-friendly ticket resale to the West End.

Fans have often been charged over the odds on secondary ticketing platforms.

The new system means unwanted tickets bought at the box office can be resold for no more than the original price.

Twickets will also add a fee of 10% to 13% of the face value.

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Rebecca Kane Burton, CEO at LW Theatres said: "We continue to strive to not only offer our customers an incredible experience, but also help them when things don't go to plan.

"Providing a safe, secure and easy way to resell tickets is best practice and yet another step LW Theatres is taking to innovate and improve theatre-going."

'Market shift'

Lord Lloyd-Webber has produced best-selling and long-running musicals including Cats and Jesus Christ Supsterstar.

Twickets launched in 2015 as a more ethical ticketing company, helping fans get into concerts by the likes of Adele and Arctic Monkeys, but this is their first official tie-in with a UK theatre group.

"The UK is in the midst of a market shift away from rip-off secondary ticketing platforms and towards capped consumer-friendly resale services," said Twickets' founder Richard Davies.

"I am proud Twickets is at the forefront of this change, and delighted we can extend our service to theatre lovers via this groundbreaking partnership with LW Theatres."

The partnership will not stop touts from putting tickets on other ticket resale sites, but intends to give theatregoers a trusted option for trading unwanted tickets at a fair price.

Tickets for shows such as Hamilton have been highly sought

The move comes after the West End production of Hamilton scrapped a paperless ticketing scheme intended to combat unauthorised resale.

Producers argued that increased customer awareness and action against sites like Viagogo meant they could reintroduce a "more open" system, including printed paper tickets.

Hamilton and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, two of the biggest West End hits in recent years, say tickets that are re-sold will be cancelled.

Music stars including Adele, Little Mix and The Spice Girls also teamed up with Twickets as the official ticket reseller for their last tours.