“Hundreds of tickets for the Rolling Stones 50th anniversary gigs remained unsold on Sunday night as touts were accused of pricing fans out of the market.

Just hours before the band took to the stage at London’s O2 Arena, scores of tickets for the veteran rockers’ first performance in five years were still available online for up to £1,300.

Agencies and individual touts hoping to profit by snapping up the tickets at face value before selling them at vastly inflated prices found that fans simply refused to pay, leaving the band facing the prospect of playing to a far from sell-out crowd.

A Rolling Stones spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: “It’s a real shame that fans have been prevented from buying tickets at the original price and that secondary marketing agencies are attempting to profit. The band does not participate in anything of this nature.” Read more here.