Sheffield: Gladiators fans tell of Utilita Arena ticket fiasco

Some 12,000 e-tickets were issued though the venue only had room for 3,000 people

A ticketing firm has said sorry after "unprecedented demand" saw people with free tickets turned away from the filming of the new Gladiators series.

Thousands turned up at Utilita Arena in Sheffield on Thursday, with some queueing for hours only to be told the venue was at full capacity.

Applause Store said tickets and its website clearly stated entrance was on a "first-come, first-served basis".

Jennie Lowe, 47, from Sheffield, said there were a lot of "disgruntled fans".

Mrs Lowe and her husband took their six-year-old son along for a half-term treat, with the family arriving at the arena at 11:00 BST to find "an enormous queue" had already formed.

She added: "We waited for two hours to then be told they were only letting 3,000 people in and they'd reached their capacity."

Staff stopped entry to the arena just after 13:00 BST

In a statement, Applause Store said: "We apologise for any disappointment caused yesterday morning (Thursday).

"Due to an unprecedented demand for tickets for the recording of Gladiators at Utilita Arena Sheffield we reached full capacity sooner than anticipated which meant we sadly couldn't accommodate everyone that turned up.

"As clearly stated on all our free tickets and on our website, entrance is on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to venue capacity and entrance is not guaranteed."

Tealah Smith, 27, from Rotherham, also turned up at the venue with family, including her heavily pregnant cousin.

She said: "We were sent four tickets by e-ticket, however no seats were allocated. On the email it said that tickets/seats were [sic] stop being allocated at 1pm. Knowing this, we arrived at 12."

Ms Smith said "thousands" were queuing outside the arena when they arrived. They left when they realised they would not be allowed in, she said.

"We heard from staff that 10,000-plus tickets had been emailed out but the arena was only allowing 3,000 in," said Ms Smith.

"People had travelled hours. It's really disappointing."

'A superfan'

Holly Kimberley, 28, also from Rotherham, said she arrived at the arena with work friends from Northern General Hospital at about 11:00 BST.

"All of a sudden, at around 12:30pm, they announced that they only had capacity for 3,000 people but 12,000 e-tickets were allocated," said Ms Kimberley.

"As you can imagine, a lot were disappointed and a lot of children and teenagers were crying."

Shortly after 13:00 BST staff announced that "no more people could go in", said Ms Kimberley.

She said that staff had offered to scan her ticket in order to "guarantee tickets for another date".

Ms Kimberley said she was "a superfan" of Gladiators as a child in the Nineties and was "really excited" to see the show.

Applause Store said all tickets that had been scanned would receive "priority tickets to a different show in the future".

Gladiators originally ran on ITV between 1992 and 2000 before a brief revival on Sky in the late 2000s.

The new series featuring 11 episodes will be available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer later this year.

The BBC declined to comment.