A frenzy for Take That tickets jammed booking hotlines and crashed websites today – as touts snapped up seats in bulk and sold them on for five times their face value.

Just 20 minutes after seats went on sale for Take That’s 14-date Progress Live 2011 tour at 9am, pairs of £50 tickets were changing hands for £490 on internet auction site ebay.

Websites including Ticketmaster, See Tickets and Ticketline all buckled under the strain of demand before 9am, with fans being told servers were down and errors had hit the sites.

• See pictures of Take That fans with their tickets in our gallery to your right

Four credit card hotlines were constantly engaged, with thousands of fans being greeted by a dead tone when they called.

Experts say the reunion of the five-piece – the first time the band will have toured with Robbie Williams in 16 years – could be the most in-demand tour in UK pop history after last year’s 2009 tour The Circus was the fastest selling ever.

Fans camped out at venues across the country to get their hands on tickets, with some die-hards waiting outside Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, where the tour kicks off on May 30 next year, since Wednesday.

At Villa Park in Birmingham, fans arrived yesterday with tents, sleeping bags, flasks and picnics to wait throughout the night. By 9.45am today, 1,000 tickets had snapped up in just 45 minutes for the June 27 date.

• Watch our video as Take That fans camp overnight

The capacity for the Aston Villa ground is 50,000 and were all expected to be sold this morning.

First to get tickets were Jane Griffiths, aged 33, and boyfriend Nathan Ross, a pastoral worker, aged 27, from Chester Road, Erdington.

Mr Ross said: “It means everything and I can’t believe we were first, it was definitely worth the effort. Last night was very cold but the atmosphere was really good.

“There was lots of banter, everyone was doing their best to keep spirits high. There were quite a few jokes and huddling together. The stewards were excellent, bringing drinks and chatting to us.”

Mother-of-four Sandy Duggan, aged 31, was fourth in the queue. The housewife, who lives near Pelsall Lane in Rushall, Walsall bought eight tickets.

She said: “I used to come when we were teenagers and it was always a great night. We couldn’t bear not to have tickets because they are like gold dust. The night hasn’t been too bad, I’ve had my ski trousers on to keep warm.

“The stewards have been really nice bringing us cups of coffee.”

Take That today urged fans to keep trying for tickets.

In a statement amid the chaos the band said: “Due to totally unprecedented demand, all ticket agents have struggled to cope with the number of people logging on.

“The technology available has not been able to keep up with demand, however, all ticket agents are confident they will be able to process inquiries and so are asking fans to keep trying.”

More dates are expected to be announced to cope with demand.

Brian Doogan, spokesman for Aston Villa, said the club had 2,000 tickets on sale at the door this morning. The ground last held major concerts in the late 1980s, with headline acts including Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen and Duran Duran.

“We are delighted to be hosting Take That,” Mr Doogan said.

“It has generated a great deal of interest and there will be many fans of Take That and Robbie Williams from the Midlands who will be thrilled to be able to watch them in concert here at Villa Park.

“We look forward to next June.”

It was announced on Tuesday at a press conference that Robbie Williams would be joining Gary Barlow, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Howard Donald on stage next year, the first time since 1995 they have toured as a band following their break-up which led to mass hysteria among fans.