A GIN festival that pulled in thousands of customers in Oxford has cancelled its forthcoming visit after going bust.

Gin Festival Limited, trading as GinFestival.com, was due to bring its UK tour back to Oxford Town Hall from October 5-7, following a successful first visit last summer.

But the Yorkshire-based company has gone into administration with immediate effect, and said it cannot afford to reimburse the 20,000 people who have already bought tickets for any of the 20 planned festivals.

Tickets for Oxford cost £15 per session.

All 27 members of staff employed by the business will be made redundant and the entire programme of festivals cancelled, including a sold-out event this weekend in Norwich.

A statement released on behalf of GinFestival.com, which was set up in 2013, said: "It encountered financial difficulties after it invested heavily in expanding its online presence.

"The business attempted to bring online ticket sales for its events in house and also set up an e-commerce operation selling craft gins direct to customers, both of which increased the financial burden on the company."

It said efforts were made to sell the company but no buyers made an offer, and a statement has now been posted on the festival's website.

The gin festival's visit to Oxford was thought to be a first for Oxford, and was quickly followed by an unlinked event staged by Gin Festivals UK at Oxford University’s Examination Schools.

Julian Pitts of Begbies Traynor, insolvency practitioners enlisted to help GinFestival.com, said: “It’s a huge shame that Gin Festival.com has been placed in administration.

"The loss of jobs is always extremely disappointing and in this case approximately 20,000 tickets have also been sold for forthcoming events, which will not be reimbursed as part of the administration process.

“Anyone who has purchased tickets for any of the events organised by GinFestival.com would be best advised to check with their credit or debit card provider as to whether they may be covered for the loss under the Chargeback system.

“Our aim was, of course, to find a purchaser for the business as a going concern in order to safeguard the jobs, but unfortunately, despite our efforts, this did not prove possible.

“We are now in the process of realising what assets we can in order to achieve the best possible returns for creditors."