A TEENAGER has been jailed after admitting selling thousands of pounds worth of fake festival tickets to schoolfriends.

Ben Hyland-Ward left 375 people - including his former Vardean School mates - disappointed after taking about £60,000 for tickets that he failed to produce or provide a refund for the Bestival event on the Isle of Wight in September 2015.

The 19-year-old, of Westfield Avenue South, Saltdean, was charged with nine counts of fraud by false representation in 2015 and pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court last year.

Today he was sentenced to 21 months in a young offender institution. 

Investigator Amber Forshaw-Briant said: "This has been a long and complex investigation involving a large number of people and we’d like to thank those involved for their patience and assistance.

"We would also like to take this opportunity to remind people about the risks involved by purchasing tickets through sources that aren’t reputable and that is the offer is too good to be true, the likelihood is that it is."