April 3, 2008 11:23

Reading And Leeds Festivals sell out in record time

Fans snap up all 200,000 tickets

Tickets for the Reading And Leeds Festivals sold out in record time on Tuesday (April 1), with 200,000 being sold within 24 hours.

Tickets had gone on sale at 7pm (BST) the night before (March 31).

Metallica, The Killers and Rage Against The Machine are set to headline the August bash, which had fans scrabbling for tickets all yesterday in a bid to secure their places.

Melvyn Benn, head of organisers Festival Republic, declared: "I am over the moon! Absolutely thrilled. [It's the] 20th year since we took over Reading after it had been bankrupt. [And the] 10th year since we created Leeds.

"The UK's biggest-selling festival with the best bill on the planet this year sells out in less than two hours. Whoever is talking about a slump in festival popularity is talking rubbish. Long live Reading and Leeds!"

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