Monmouthshire County Council has apologised after a ticketing issue at Abergavenny’s Borough Theatre left dozens of people missing out on tickets to see comedian Rhod Gilbert when he appears in a warm up gig next week.

Initial publicity issued by the comedian’s management promised that the £15 tickets would be on sale at 1pm on Wednesday, but sales on the theatre’s website and at its box office opened at 12.30 with the show completely sold out within ten minutes.

Disgruntled customers took to social media to express their anger with many vowing not to support the theatre in the future.

“We can’t help ‘save the theatre’ if they don’t let people buy tickets properly,” said one disappointed Rhod fan.

In the wake of the angry reaction the comedian himself took to social media to respond, offering ‘huge apologies to everyone who missed out’.

“Tickets have sold for all dates very quickly. In future, we will try our hardest to ensure that venues release tickets at the agreed/specified time, to avoid further disappointment. I appreciate that is of no use to those who missed out on this occasion but please accept my sincere apologies,” he said.

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council, which took over the running of the threatened theatre earlier this year said, “We are so sorry about the error regarding the ticket sale time for Rhod Gilbert’s upcoming show in Abergavenny. We will ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”