Hundreds of thousands struggle to secure tickets to Peter Kay’s comeback tour

The rush to secure tickets also prompted the hashtags #PeterKayTour and #Ticketmaster to begin trending on Twitter.

Channel 5 News host Dan Walker was among those in the queue, tweeting: “Trying to get Peter Kay tickets is like trying to get an appointment at the GP!

“‘Please hold… there are currently 170,000 people ahead of you in the queue’.”

Fellow comic Jason Manford joked: “Phew lucky enough to get 2x Peter Kay tickets. For sale 2x Peter Kay tickets, £3500 each ono.”

Others compared the experience to the famously difficult task of securing tickets to Glastonbury Festival.

Within two hours tickets were already appearing on resale sites, with a single ticket to a London show selling for up to £350 on Viagogo.