Ticket touts are having their reservations for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo cancelled as organisers crack down on illegal sales on the internet.

Tattoo officials are writing to people who have posted tickets to the sell-out event on eBay, asking them to remove their offers.

They have cancelled the tickets of two who refused.

Alan Smith, marketing manager, said they decided to take a tough line due to the popularity of the event.

He said: "The public are being asked to pay four or five times over the face value of these tickets, which is plain wrong.

"We're doing all we can to put an end to these ticket sales."

The 208,848 tickets for the event have sold out in record time.