AceShowbiz - Ed Sheeran insisted he isn't stitching up his fans as he cracks down on ticket touts.

The Shape of You hitmaker's promoters announced earlier this week (end May 27) that 10,000 tickets for shows in Britain and Ireland obtained by known touts or sold via resale websites like Viagogo had been declared invalid.

And when fans turned up to his first tour date at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England on Thursday and found their tickets didn't allow them admission, and had to buy new ones.

Ed was adamant that his "strong" approach on secondary tickets for his gigs will benefit fans in the long run, and told BBC Newsbeat: "The only people it is going to harm in the end is the touts. I hate the idea of people paying more than face value for tickets when you can get them at face value."

We asked @edsheeran about his ongoing battle against ticket 'touts'. #BiggestWeekend#EdSheeran#Swanseapic.twitter.com/MJ0BUeCzr2

— BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) 26 May 2018

In Manchester on Thursday, angry fans with resold tickets were asked to pay $106 (£80), which is the face value of a ticket, and their original ticket was then stamped invalid.

Ed played a quick set at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swansea on Saturday, May 26, and said the fans affected by the resold tickets are legally able to get a refund from the secondary ticket site.

"It's all being done properly I'm not trying to stitch fans up," he told Newsbeat. "People just need to start taking a stance and within two or three years companies like Viagogo are going to be kaput (no longer in business). Loads of acts are doing it, Arctic Monkeys, Adele, no one is OK with it.

"The fans are not OK with secondary tickets. Sometimes you can spend all that money and it is a fake ticket. I think it is just about being strong and not giving in," he added.