Britain's Got Talent fans in ticket misery

Britain's Got Talent bosses have been criticised by fans after giving out too many tickets for auditions taking place in Birmingham.

It is understood more than 200 people assigned free tickets by website Applausestore.com over the three-day event arrived at the New Alexandra Theatre to find they had no seats.

Furious fans had travelled from across the region to watch the second round of auditions on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. But they were left out in the cold.

Fans said organisers told them tickets had been allocated on the basis that there were more than 1,200 seats in the theatre. But only 900 were available.

Natalie Old, aged 23, of Nottingham, had travelled to Birmingham to see judges David Hasselhoff, Amanda Holden and Michael McIntyre rate this year's acts after receiving an email confirming she had a ticket.

She said: "I got here in good time but when we went to find out which queue we needed to join, we were told the theatre was oversubscribed.

"When we asked whether there was a stand-by queue we were told there were already 200 people in it and the best thing we could do was go home.

"I know the tickets were free, but I paid £15 on the train to get over and had been looking forward to it. The whole thing has been really badly organised."

Julie Sandy, a 40-year-old accounts clerk from Burton upon Trent, arrived in Birmingham more than two hours before the show — but still missed out on a place.

She said: "I am so disappointed. I was told they had given out 1,200 tickets, but there were only 900 seats."

Applausestore.com managing director Matthew First said the firm operated a clear policy which did not guarantee entry.

"Tickets for all TV and radio shows or events before a live studio audience are free and distributed in excess of studio capacity to compensate for no-shows," he said. "Tickets holders are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis."

He couldn't say how many people were turned away.