Fans hoping to get in early to secure their tickets for Peter Kay's Belfast tour dates have been left "devastated" after presale site crashes due to "unprecedented" demand.
The comedian hasn't toured in 12 years and cancelled his last 14 dates in 2017 due to unforeseen family circumstances.
The SSE Arena in Belfast announced it will host Kay saying the multi-Bafta winning stand-up will play the city on Thursday, February 23, 2023, and Friday, February 24, 2023.
Read more: Peter Kay announces Northern Ireland tour dates
O2 and Three customers were given access to a unique presale website that was due to go live at 10am on Thursday morning, two days ahead of the general sale on Saturday, November 12 from Ticketmaster.
However, many fans found themselves unable to access the app and website when the tickets went live, leaving them "frustrated" as tickets have already appeared on resale sites with prices up to £1,000.
Kay promised to keep his tickets affordable amid the cost of living crisis.
He said: "With the cost of living at an all-time high, ticket prices are starting from £35. The same price they were on my previous tour in 2010".
O2 reminded customers who found themselves unable to access the site at 10am that the presale access would be available for 48 hours and to check back at a later time.
Taking to social media, they said: "We’re seeing unprecedented demand for Peter Kay tickets & we know a lot of you can’t access Priority. Sorry, we’re working on it. Please be patient; this is by far the highest demand we’ve ever seen for Priority Tickets in 15 years. The presale lasts for 48h so keep checking."
Some fans have called the wait to see if they would be able to secure tickets "traumatic" and compared the stress to getting tickets to Glastonbury.
A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: “We’ve seen unprecedented levels of visitors to our Priority platform for Peter Kay tickets. As a result, some customers are experiencing difficulties trying to use the app and website despite us putting additional resource in place to help cope with such demand. We apologise and we’re doing everything we can to get it back up and running as soon as possible.”
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