A Poole couple are fuming after spending almost £500 online buying Tina Turner tickets which never arrived after two websites disappeared.

Veronica and Alan Johnson, of Parkstone, should have been at the O2 Arena with friends this evening watching Tina Turner on her first tour in nine years.

But instead they have been left sorely disappointed.

Veronica, a pay roll administrator, bought six tickets for a 60th birthday surprise for her husband, an engineer, who has been a fan since the 1960s but never seen the singer live on stage.

She said: “It was a special treat for my husband. He’s always loved Tina Turner and it was his dream to go and see her.”

She purchased them back in October through tinaturnerworldtour.com, and the transaction was charged to her credit card under the name thefootballticketshop.com soon after.

Confirmation emails explained the tickets would be delivered a week before the concert – but they never arrived.

And when Veronica tried to find the websites to search for a telephone number both had disappeared from the web.

“I was really disappointed,” she said. “It made me feel quite sick when the websites weren’t there – you think how can someone do this? I’d looked forward to it for six months – now this.”

She added: “I would just like to warn others to be careful it doesn’t happen to them.”

Michael Webber, regulatory team manager at environmental and consumer protection services at Borough of Poole, said there had been a few similar complaints in the South West, but was not aware of any specifically about these websites.

He urged internet shoppers to use secure sites which provide contact details including a telephone number and address, and preferably work on personal recommendations. He also advised people to use credit cards or debit cards with purchase protection.

The Echo tried to contact the websites via email, but has not yet received a response.