Albert Hall trustees banned from selling seats at a profit

The Royal Albert Hall has passed a new bye-law, preventing trustees from selling their tickets for more than their face value.

It comes after members were accused of making a profit, by selling tickets to charity concerts at inflated prices.

A quarter of the seats in the venue are effectively owned by the Royal Albert Hall's members.

They pay more than a thousand pounds a year for their seats, which operate in a similar way to season tickets. However, the bye-law does not apply to the whole of this group - only the organisation's 23 trustees.

The President of the Hall, Mrs Peta Travis, said: "I should make clear that none of our Trustees has done anything illegal but their ability to sell surplus tickets commercially has clearly caused concern and misunderstanding"

"I also wish to emphasise that none of the charities which stage events at the Hall have suffered financially from the arrangements which prevailed...but we believe that it is time for a change".

Trustees will be asked to return unwanted tickets through the official ticket-return scheme.