Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tickets sold on second-hand websites by touts for up to £2,200

Buying preview tickets through official outlets cost as little as £10

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child officially opens on Saturday 30 July in two parts

Fans spent hours attempting to buy tickets to see the new theatre production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, described by JK Rowling as the eighth story in the boy wizard’s saga.

Unfortunately, not everyone buying tickets was a real Potter fan, as many tickets have already hit second-hand websites for hugely inflated prices.

On Viagogo, touts are attempting to pawn off tickets for as much as £2,200, the majority going for around £1,800.

Screenshot of Viagogo selling tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Viagogo)

Screenshot of Viagogo selling tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Viagogo)

On Stubhub things are a little better, with a balcony ticket going for £775. However, to sit in the dress circle will cost you double, with prices starting at £1,500.

Screenshot of StubHub selling Harry Potter tickets (StubHub)

Ebay was, predictably, just as bad.

Screen shot of Ebay selling Harry Potter tickets (Ebay)

Considering preview tickets started at £10, and tickets once the production starts cost as little as £15, these prices are extortionate.

The play will be in two parts, with 250 tickets for each one being made available for less than £20. There will also be reduced price lottery tickets available each night.

As noted in a statement from Viagogo: "While a seller can list a ticket at any price he likes, tickets listed at crazy prices rarely sell. As an event approaches, ticket prices often drop substantially."

Cursed Child’s story will focus on Harry Potter’s middle son, Albus Severus, and will see the-boy-who-lived “grapple with his past” in relation to his own son’s struggle with “a family legacy he never wanted”.

Tickets go on general sale 30 October.