New shows added as two million seek Jacko tickets

More than two million Michael Jackson fans sent websites into meltdown today as they scrambled to buy early tickets for his London gigs.

Both Ticketmaster and O2's websites crashed as the first batch of seats went on sale to the mobile phone firm's customers and pre-registered fans.

Over 200,000 tickets were purchased in under than three hours forcing promoter AEG Live to add 10 new shows.

A source said AEG was prepared to add another 20 dates today alone and up to 20 more from Friday when they go on sale to the general public .

"We've not seen anything like it and new dates are being added by the hour. The way this is going, we will break all records," said the source. Applications for tickets came from Congo, Paraguay, Sri Lanka and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the gigs which have been promoted as the superstar's last in London.

O2 asked customers to register yesterday for access to the special presale site. The company today apologised to customers and said the unprecedented demand resulted in "intermittent service" for its site.

Ticketmaster also issued an apology in an email to customers who had preregistered. "Ticketmaster is receiving an overwhelming amount of traffic to their website," it said.

Internet message boards were overwhelmed with customers complaining. "My O2 priority password is not valid and neither are 2 friends of mine who have a password," said one customer. "To say we're annoyed is an understatement."

Jackson, who has returned to the US for rehearsals, is said to be "ecstatic" at the way the shows are being received.

Randy Phillips, President & CEO of AEG Live, said: "New records are being set by the minute. These shows will go down in show business history, and we are proud to be presenting them. It's the last chance for fans to see Michael Jackson in London, so this is something unique. It's going to be a long, hot, incredibly exciting summer in the UK."

The first 10 concerts will start on 8 July. Tickets go on general sale on Friday at 7am. Jackson is expected to surpass Prince's run of 21 nights at the O2, with up to 50 dates.