If you haven’t yet managed to get a ticket for Chelsea Flower Show taking place this week, your chances of going are slim: all 157,000 tickets sold out in record time when they went on sale a few weeks back. Officials have said that the interest in tickets shows it remains one of the country’s most popular events despite the weather and difficult economic conditions.

Although all is not lost, providing you have the cash that is. Garden enthusiasts are being charged up to six times the value of tickets on the black market, it emerged last week. On some sites, touts have been offering them for hugely over inflated prices to cash in on the high demand.

But be warned, organisers have advised fans not to buy tickets off the internet, as they risk not buying genuine tickets and could be refused entry. One all day ticket for today’s show (May 22) was reportedly being offered on eBay at £315, while other internet ticket sites were offering passes for nearly £250.

The Royal Horticultural Society charges £45 for an all day pass to the gardening show, which runs for five days. Although touts are generally not breaking the law, organisers frown upon their behaviour and often take steps to stop tickets being resold. Alex Denman, Chelsea’s show manager, has urged fans not to buy tout tickets.

She told The Telegraph: “The high demand for tickets is both an indication of the event’s popularity as one of the hottest events of the summer and a reflection of the public’s passion for gardens and gardening. We ask that people don’t buy tickets at inflated prices from unofficial outlets, as they risk that their tickets won’t be genuine and that they won’t get access.”

So if you don’t want to risk buying tickets that aren’t genuine and being refused entry, best wait until next year.