The reformed boy band will tour Europe before coming to the UK

Hundreds of people queued outside venues to secure their places, while the Ticketmaster website crashed when the seats went on sale at 0900 GMT.

But some fans are angry that tickets have appeared on eBay, with prices already reaching thousands of pounds.

The tour promoter said it "strongly recommended" against buying tickets on eBay as they may not be genuine.

Bidding for one pair of seats, in the front block of London's O2 Arena, has already reached �9,400, but the auction began on Thursday evening - before tickets even went on sale.

"Not one single person bought a ticket before 0900 this morning," a spokeswoman for tour promoters SJM Concerts said.

We are all totally overwhelmed, and also a bit nervous Mark Owen

"There was no pre-sale. The tour was set up with the intention of letting as many fans as possible see the concert.

"Unfortunately, we can't legislate for people selling on tickets on eBay".

The sell-out 29-date tour is another accolade for the former boy band, who reformed last year following an ITV documentary marking the 10th anniversary of their demise.

Their comeback hit Patience reached number one at the end of last year and recently won a Brit award for best British single. Their album, Beautiful World, also topped the charts.

Celebrate

"We're in Tokyo at the moment so it's really surreal to hear the news from the UK," Mark Owen said.

"We are all totally overwhelmed, and also a bit nervous. We're trying to celebrate but we're all a bit jet lagged."

Bandmate Jason Orange added: "We'll be looking to make this the best tour we can and look forward to seeing everyone in November."

The tour starts in Birmingham on 15 November and also includes eight dates at London's O2 Arena, formerly the Millennium Dome.