were listed on the auction site. . This produuced a strong reaction from both the British Government and Live 8 organiser Bob Geldorf.

Geldorf is reported as saying, "It is a disgrace. It is completely against the interests of the poor. The people who are selling these tickets on the website are miserable wretches who are capitalising on peoples misery"

Jamers Purnell, Broadcasting and Music Minister also wrote to eBay calling for them to halt the trade in tickets for the concert. Currently it is illegal to sell tickets for football matches on eBay but there is a roaring trade for tickets for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships which is due to start next week.

Ebay's view was that it is the fundamental right of any person to sell anything they actually own, whether they purchased or won in a competition. However, last night eBay backed down after angry fans flooded the site with hoax bids for the tickets. Last night UK Managing Director Doug McCallum said that "eBay had listened to the overwhelming view of ebay customers that the sales should cease."