Mumford and Sons want fans to stand up to ticket touts

Mumford and Sons want fans to stand up to ticket touts.

The band are asking their fans to sign a petition so that tougher penalties for touts can be debated in parliament.

In order for that to happen they'll need 100,000 signatures - so far more than 14,000 people have signed the petition.

Little Mix and One Direction are also tweeting their support, using #toutsout.

Mumford and Sons have been using #toutsout

On their Facebook page Mumford and Sons wrote: "If getting onstage is one of the best things about being a musician, seeing your audience get ripped off is undoubtedly the worst.

"At M&S HQ we try hard to ensure that true fans have the best opportunity of getting into shows, at the right price, but are often powerless when faced with organised industrial-scale ticket touting.

"At the moment, the law makes it easy for these shady operators to hoover up tickets and profit at your expense - so we are joining with others across the music and creative communities to a support petition that demands politicians tighten up consumer legislation."

Little Mix have been using #toutsout in support of the petition

The petition is headlined Enforce the Consumer Rights Act to protect music, arts and sport fans from touts.

It says: "Fans are being ripped-off by ticket resales.

"The Consumer Rights Act has not changed this.

"We demand that parliament enact last year's ticket resale amendment, which provides tougher sanctions for resale websites, and also require ticket resellers to reveal their identities."

"On a commercial scale, touting deprives the Treasury of VAT, and performance copyright holders of royalties that should be paid on the mark-ups.

"It also denies artistes the ability to ensure their events are priced so anyone can attend."

One Direction are supporting the petition

A Department for Business Innovation & Skills spokesman said: "In the Consumer Rights Act, the government committed to an independent review of online secondary ticketing.

"The review has been considering a wide range of stakeholders responses to consider how best to represent consumers' interests. We are expecting the review report in late May 2016."

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