Ticket-holders at last night’s concert have taken to social media to express their disappointment at being denied entry to the front-section of the concert, despite paying an extra $40 above the general admission price to catch a closer glimpse of the English band.

Concertgoers claim the event organisers oversold front-section tickets, meaning some who had paid the $120 premium fee were relegated to the back general admission area. They also claim there was not an adequate checkpoint at the concert to ensure those who were accessing the front section had the relevant ticket to do so.

But Adelaide-based concert promoter Space Events, which hosted last night’s concert, has denied premium ticket-holders were forced to watch the concert from the back section.

Managing director Phil Rankine told InDaily that the event was a “tremendous success” and, as such, no blanket refund would be provided to disgruntled customers.

“Ticket-holders got the experience that they paid for,” Rankine said.

“It would not have been possible for general admission ticket-holders to be in the front section unless they could prove that they had the relevant ticket.”

But concertgoers have told InDaily they had to wait in metres-long queues at the event to gain access to the front section, only to be told by concert staff that the front section had already reached its 2000-person capacity.

One attendee, who paid for the $120 front-section ticket but who was forced to watch the concert from the back general admission section, said staff members told her they could “line up all night but we wouldn’t get in.”

“It was just really disappointing that we paid extra to get closer positions and be amongst the action but due to poor organisation we were unable to get in and therefore had a poor view of the stage,” she said.

“Luckily while lining up we realised the line wasn’t moving and we asked the workers at the front what the problem was.

“They told us we could line up all night but we wouldn’t get in, otherwise we would have lined up for much longer.

“An announcement or some form of communication to tell us this would have saved many people from lining up pointlessly for an hour and allowed them to get better positions in the back area rather than positions with poor views.”

A disgruntled commenter on the Florence + The Machine event page.

Another attendee, who also paid for the $120 front-section ticket but who was unable to gain access to the area, told InDaily Space Events had not provided enough space to accommodate all premium ticket-holders.

“Before attending I looked at the map and noted that there were two areas and paid extra to get into the premium section at the front, but when we got there, there was no checkpoint demarcating those with tickets for the front section and those with tickets for the general section – people were just flowing through,” she said.

“Because there was no checkpoint, people with the general tickets were granted access to the premium section, while other people like us who had a premium ticket and who had paid extra couldn’t get in.

“I understand that there was a need to keep the space safe and not compromise safety but it was unfair to give the impression to the people that had bought tickets that they would be able to access that front section.”

But Rankine said there were adequate checkpoints at the barrier between the front and back general admission areas and that general admission ticket-holders would not have been allowed entry to the front section.

He said all ticket-holders were emailed a map that outlined the different ticket zones and that “everything that could be done was done” to ensure patron safety.

“We clearly marked out that information on the map, which we know about 4000 people opened,” he said.

“When you have a lot of general admission people there can be a crush or a surge and it is up to the organisation to demarcate and create those different areas so that people can get out easily and safely.

“It was our first general admission concert in the park and we wanted to do everything that would make it safe.”

Rankine said Space Events would take ticketholder complaints seriously.