The agency which handled match tickets for Wednesday's Worthington Cup quarter-final at Villa Park have apologised to supporters after the game was delayed for 80 minutes.

Ticketmaster UK have also promised to review their procedures after thousands of fans were left queuing for tickets in freezing temperatures.

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The match between Aston Villa and Liverpool was due to kick off at 1945 GMT but was delayed on safety grounds until 2105 GMT.

"We sold 5,000 tickets for the match in seven days. Due to the Christmas posting times, 4,000 of those tickets were for collection on the night," said Ticketmaster managing director Peter Jackson.

"Supporters were asked to arrive as early as possible to collect tickets but, with the rush-hour traffic and roadworks, they did not arrive until 1930 GMT.

"Ticketmaster and Aston Villa put on extra staff to handle the collections but the massive queues meant the match was quite rightly delayed for safety reasons.

"We are looking with Aston Villa to review procedures in the light of Wednesday night's events and apologise to the club and the supporters for the delays that occurred."

Villa have held a meeting of all internal staff involved in the events which led to the delay - which meant the game did not end until 2300 GMT.

'Inadequate procedures'

A club statement said: "On Wednesday afternoon, the severity of the collection process was established after contact from Ticketmaster.

"Aston Villa and Ticketmaster implemented procedures that it was felt would adequately cope with the situation.

"However, these procedures were not adequate. The club acknowledges that a set of unfortunate and unique circumstances conspired to produce an unacceptable delay to kick-off.

"The board of directors wish to reiterate their apology to supporters of both clubs and to express their gratitude for the patience of all affected by this regrettable incident."