ROYAL Ascot tickets are being touted at more than double their face value on the internet, the Evening Press can reveal.

Grandstand and course badges for next year's premier event at York Racecourse are being offered at the exorbitant rates on auction site ebay.

Entertainment firms are selling badges for Gold Cup Day on (Thursday, June 16), next year, at £100 a ticket - even though racing does not begin for another eight months.

Ascot officials today urged people to book through official channels and said those who bought from unofficial sources were running the risk of tickets being forgeries.

On ebay, a grandstand seat for Gold Cup Day, which has sold out in both standard and paddock, is being offered at £100 (double its £50 face value), while a course enclosure badge is being auctioned for £45 - more than two-and-a-half times the cost price.

Last week, the Evening Press reported how at our business awards, William Derby, York Racecourse chief executive, urged people not to ruin the city's good reputation by profiteering from the event.

He said the prospect of unjustified rents and prices, whether for a bed or a butty, filled him with horror and could see the city portrayed in an unfavour-able light.

Nick Smith, communications director at Ascot, said the racecourse frowned on the inflated ticket prices.

He said: "We could have charged the prices they are asking, but we were not interested in doing that," he said. "We want to open the event up to everyone. It is a real shame when people take advantage and it is not something we are pleased about.

"Unfortunately, this is untraceable and there is very little we can do about it."

Mr Smith urged people to beware when booking tickets unofficially, as none had yet been dispatched by the Ascot-based course.

York will hold Royal Ascot between June 14 and 18 next year while Ascot undergoes a £180 million refit.

Updated: 10:15 Tuesday, November 23, 2004