Bournemouth Wire

By Ryan Hooper

Ticket touts to face expulsion from uni? £10,000 for Scouting For Girls? Excitment builds ahead of Bournemouth summer ball.

STUDENTS have been warned they face disciplinary action, including possible expulsion from university, if they are caught selling summer ball tickets at inflated prices.

Scores of tickets for the sold-out event have surfaced on Ebay, where one seller submitted a buy-it-now price of £102.

But the university has condemned the actions, and has warned that touts who contravene university policy of selling tickets for higher than face value may be excluded.

Lynda Davies, a Student Union spokesperson, said such measures would only be considered in extreme cases: “(Touting) goes against university policy, and they could be chucked out of uni for it.

“We have already caught one person selling their ticket on Ebay because they left a contact number and name and we were able to trace them. But not everyone is selling on Ebay, and so we have a real problem preventing people from making a profit off the tickets.”

The event, which is due to be held on June 7, was sold out within six weeks of the 5,500 tickets going on sale.

Bournemouth’s summer ball has attracted a nationwide reputation for being among the best events of its kind, with a star-studded list of previous guests, DJs and bands.

This year’s headliners are pop chart-toppers Scouting For Girls, who are set to belt out hits “She’s So Lovely” and “Elvis Ain’t Dead” at a cost of £10,000.

Student Union Commercial and Marketing Manager Alan Dove said the university fought hard to get the band on board. He said: “£10,000 is the going rate for a top band like Scouting For Girls at this time of year.

“Thankfully Bournemouth has got a great reputation – bands don’t want to play black tie balls. They want their audience to have fun.

“I think people are generally pleased with Scouting For Girls – they’re flavour of the month at the moment, aren’t they?”

The money spent on the headliners is equal to the cost of hiring the double-decker buses that provided transport to and from the venue last year.

Organisers are expecting to spend around £190,000 on the event, which includes around £12,000 on tents and marquees. They will make around £150,000 from ticket sales and a further £100,000 from bar sales.

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