As thousands of Irish people prepare to travel to France this week for Euro 2016, they're being urged to avoid buying tickets from unofficial sources.

The Consumers Association of Ireland says ticket touts and fake tickets are rife and that people need to be extremely careful.

CAI spokesman Dermott Jewell says if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

"Unless you know the individual personally, or you know that it's coming from a proven, trusted source, then the immediate message is 'don't buy' - certainly not in a format of cash or any way that you don't have any means of claiming it back."

 

 

The warning has come after an investigation by consumer magazine Which?, which found that unofficial websites illegally selling Euro 2016 tickets could leave fans being refused entry.

Rules by the European football body Uefa mean ticket-holders are likely to need photo ID to get into grounds, which won't match the name on the ticket if it is an unofficial one.

The investigation found tickets on unofficial secondary sites selling for up to £5,000 (€6,300).

Tickets can only be bought legally through Uefa itself.