The United Kingdom will ban the resale of tickets for music concerts, shows and sporting events at inflated prices, tackling the scourge of ticket touts who use technology to snap up tickets for popular events, the government says.

Housing minister Steve Reed said the practice of "ticket touting" - people buying tickets to sell them on at multiples of their face value - was hugely damaging for individuals who had to pay "through the nose" to attend.

Shares in US company StubHub, the owner of resale site Viagogo, fell 14 per cent on Monday after it was reported the government would go ahead with a ban.

"We are committed to ending the scandal of ticket touts," Reed told BBC News on Tuesday, adding that its plans would be set out by ministers in the coming days.

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