Organisers of the Glastonbury Festival have opened registration for tickets today in a bid to stop touts cashing in. 

Prospective festival goers will have to sign up online during February and include a JPEG image, or download a form and post it along with a physical photo, in order to register for the chance to buy tickets.

"Michael Eavis believes that the best way to ensure that the person who buys a ticket on 1 April is the same person who actually goes to the festival is to have his or her photograph on the ticket," says the official Glastonbury website. 

"So everyone who wants to buy a ticket on 1 April will need to register during February and provide a photograph of themselves."

The move has been implemented to stop touts making a profit by selling tickets on online auction sites such as eBay. 

However, registration does not mean that people are automatically entitled to tickets, and there is no 'first registered, first served' policy.

"Please remember that registration does not reserve or guarantee you a ticket and you will still need to revisit the site on 1 April with your registration number to purchase tickets," the confirmation email said.