Hundreds of tickets for evening sessions at the 2013 Ilkley Beer Festival sold out within half an hour of going on sale.

Queues formed along Station Road on Saturday morning as the rush began for tickets for the 2013 event, taking place in February.

Organiser Ilkley and District Round Table launched the sales at the Winter Garden at 10am in a bid to make tickets available to as many people as possible.

The new ticket sales launch came in response to disappointment last year for some who were unable to get their hands on any.

Tickets for the popular Friday night session sold out before 10.20am, while tickets for the Saturday evening session were gone by 10.27am. There were about 500 tickets available for each of the festival’s three sessions.

Some were sold by mail order before general release.

About 100 remaining tickets, for the Saturday afternoon session, are being sold through Bat T’at, Cunliffe Road.

The beer festival, which will take place on February 8 and 9, is the biggest fundraising event for the Round Table, which distributes money to good causes in the area.

Festival tickets cost £5 each.