A choir called Melodia has hired a local theatre for 3 nights to present a programme of operatic arias.

The theatre has 600 seats and the hire cost is $500 per night plus 25% of the ticket sales. The theatre has provided the tickets. It will also print programmes, if required, at a cost of 50¢ each, provided at least 250 are ordered. Based on previous experience, it has been decided to ask for 900 programmes to be printed.

Tickets are on sale for $8 each and programmes will be sold for $1 each.

What is the minimum number of tickets that need to be sold in order to cover the hiring and printing costs from ticket sales alone?