TORONTO - Ontario's ombudsman is investigating a scandal in the wind involving Elton John concert tickets and Sudbury city council.

Many residents of the northern Ontario city who couldn't get tickets to the sold-out March 2 concert by the pop music legend were fuming after learning that city council had early access to a block of 100 reserved tickets.

The councillors were able to purchase up to eight tickets each, even though those who stood in line -- or waited online -- to buy tickets were limited to a maximum of six each.

But that's not what attracted the ombudsman's attention.

Andre Marin has notified the City of Greater Sudbury that he is investigating a complaint about a closed-door city council meeting.

The complaint concerned allegations that councillors met privately to discuss matters related to the concert and the controversy about their reserved tickets.

Under changes to Ontario's Municipal Act that came into effect this year -- changes that Marin had fought for -- all meetings of elected municipal councils and committees in the province must be open to the public, with only a few narrow exceptions.

Details of the ombudsman's investigation, including the complainant's identity, are confidential.

"The issue of Sudbury councillors receiving tickets to that concert has been of great public interest," Marin said in a statement.

"This complaint involves allegations about a lack of transparency that we are taking very seriously."

The Sudbury Star reported Wednesday that taxpayers in the area would be on the hook for a $14,000 bill for consultants hired by the city administrator - without public disclosure or council's prior approval - to deal with the public uproar over the tickets.

The ombudsman's office said it would not be investigating a similar controversy in Kitchener, Ont. -- the only other Canadian stop on John's most recent tour -- where city councillors also availed themselves of reserved tickets to the show, which quickly sold out.

But there have been no complaints to the ombudsman's office about any closed-door council meetings in Kitchener.

The ombudsman investigates complaints about closed council meetings in municipalities that have chosen to use his services.

This will be the ombudsman's second investigation under the new Municipal Act stipulations.

The first investigation involved a meeting in Fort Erie that turned out to be in compliance with the act.