COUNCIL bosses have been urged to scrap a £1.50 'Booking Fee' two of a borough's main entertainment venues.

A change in legislation has meant handling charges for buying tickets on the phone or in person at Blackburn's King George's Hall and Darwen Library Theatre can no longer be buried in the small print of advertisements as an 'administration fee'.

It is part of a law change stopping venues and booking agents imposing a surcharge for credit card purchases as previously.

Nationally, agents have introduced a single standardised transaction fee for all bookings.

Since it was flagged up from last month as a 'Booking Fee' in publicity material and receipts, purchasers have been complaining to councillors about the charge.

Several have contacted Sudell Liberal Democrat Cllr Roy Davies who has taken the issue up with Blackburn with Darwen Borough leisure boss Cllr Damian Talbot.

Cllr Davies said: "Now that people can clearly see this booking fee on their tickets they are very upset and angry. And so am I.

"They fact they have been paying it already (often without knowing) is no excuse for continuing to charge it.

"If people are buying tickets on the phone or face to face from the venue in cash or by debit card, I don't see why they should have to pay extra. The cost of a seat should be the price on the face of the ticket.

"The council gets big acts like Russell Brand to come to King George's' Hall or showcases local stars like Tez Ilyas, so they should not impose an extra financial penalty for coming to see them.

"People save up for these tickets and then don't expect to fork out an extra £1,50.

"This is particularly so at Darwen Library Theatre where many of the audience are elderly or less well off and cannot afford to pay another charge on top of the ticket price. The venue is struggling anyway."

Cllr Talbot said: "This handling charge to pay for things printing tickets has always been there.

"It is not in the ticket price because it is charged per transaction so for a family buying four tickets it is just £1.50 instead of £6. The change is about making things more transparent.

"Ticketmaster charges £5.50 per transaction. We wanted a significantly lower cost to direct customers and decided on £1.50."