BLACKBURN Rovers bosses are furious after some fans sold their season tickets to Manchester United supporters for Saturday’s crunch game.

Club officials were ‘shocked and disturbed’ that fans were cashing in despite Rovers still fighting to remain in the Premier League.

They have brought in police and pledged to take strong action against any fans who sell their season ticket seat.

Rovers did not say how many tickets they suspected had been sold on, but said the situation was serious enough for them to be worried about crowd safety.

Eleven years ago there were ugly scenes at Ewood Park when Manchester City won promotion to the Premier League by beating Rovers 4-1.

More than 2,000 City fans infiltrated the Blackburn seating areas with Rovers fans offered as much as £1,000 to sell their season tickets.

Manchester United will clinch the Premier League title if they secure at least a point on Saturday.

It appears the black market has been created as the 7,500 official away tickets is not enough to satisfy demand.

Tickets which have appeared for sale on online auction website, eBay, have been fetching upwards of £120 for a pair.

A fan who was selling a pair of tickets on eBay for £60 each told the Lancashire Telegraph that he had put them up after realising that the game clashed with his holiday plans.

He claimed that he would not have sold them otherwise as he would have liked to have gone to the game himself.

However officials at the Premier League said it was illegal under any circumstances to re-sell season tickets.

Rovers said club officials, supported by Lancashire Police, were ensuring ‘everything possible’ was being done to stop the sale of seats by Rovers fans.

Managing director Tom Finn said: “This is a very disturbing situation, not to mention a criminal offence, and a situation we could well do without leading up to what is a massive fixture.

“We are currently monitoring things very closely and, where necessary, will cancel the season tickets, so denying entry to the stadium on the day.

“It also goes without saying that we need as many Rovers fans inside Ewood Park on Saturday as we can.

"Fervent home support has worked wonders for us in recent years and we need it again now."

A police spokesperson, added: "We can confirm we are aware of this issue and we are working with the club and supporting their efforts to minimise any possible disruption that could potentially come as a result of this."

A spokesperson for the Premier League said that a fan could end up with a criminal conviction, a maximum £5,000 fine and a football ban could also be imposed.

He added: “The fan would be treated as a tout with a number of penalties being imposed as a preventative measure.

“Individual clubs will also have their own terms and conditions and guidelines regarding the sale of season tickets and could impose further penalties.

“It is necessary to apply these measures to ensure that fans end up sitting in the correct part of the ground in an area designated for them.”

An eBay spokesperson said: “The resale of any Premiership football tickets on eBay is illegal and we will remove such tickets if anyone attempts to sell them.”