Take That's new UK tour sold out in just three hours

Some websites offered tickets for the new Take That tour for twice face value before they even went on sale, John Robertson MP told the House of Commons.

"Is it not time the government did something about this ticket touting and make sure the people that do it end up in jails?" he said.

The government has condemned touting - but refused to make it illegal.

All 370,000 tickets for Take That's UK tour sold out in just three hours on Thursday.

Unauthorised agencies are offering them for sale for inflated prices, while more than 5,000 were listed on auction site eBay on Monday.

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Other popular gigs and festivals are also in high demand, with festivals including T in the Park and Glastonbury taking their own measures to try to cut down on touting.

Pete Wishart MP, a former member of rock group Runrig, asked: "Why is it being left to the music industry to try and address this problem?

"Surely the government should be doing more to protect music fans from this touting."

Creative Industries Minister Shaun Woodward responded that ticket touting was "a very serious issue" and the government was working with the industry and the public "to achieve a clampdown".

'Only a minority'

But calls for touting to be outlawed have been rebuffed. Mr Woodward said fans did not want the government to "over-intervene".

"Members of the public, where it is fair, want the facility to be able to sell on tickets themselves," he said.

"We condemn the practice where it's wrong but it's also important to get a grip on how proportionate this is because it is only a minority who do this - albeit a minority we condemn."

In a separate move on Monday, eBay blamed promoters for forcing fans to turn to the site for tickets because of "issues with the way they are initially sold".