A LEGO fan who spelt the word refund in Lego at the Brick Fest Live festival at Birmingham's NEC says the event was a "catastrophe".

Ellie Bond, from Hawkwood Crescent in Worcester, decided to head down to NEC in Birmingham on Sunday, May 26 with her father for the Brick Fest Live festival but says she will "absolutely not" be going back again.

Having gone in with high expectations, Miss Bond was left underwhelmed by the festival's offering that had not "promised anything it advertised".

The Lego event hails itself as the 'world’s largest brick festival' but has instead left ticket buyers demanding refunds.

Speaking of her experience, Miss Bond said: "I haven't been to a Lego festival event before so I had no idea what to expect.

"When we walked in, it was a little bit shocking.

"I'm a big Star Wars Lego fan and it had been advertised as the biggest Brick Fest festival, so I went in with high expectations."

Miss Bond's lofty expectations quickly turned into despair as the festival failed to live up to its billing.

"We'd heard mixed reviews and that is wasn't worth the money," she added.

"They said that there would be big brick sculptures, Lego displays, merchandise and stuff for all ages.

"But it was all kiddie stuff mainly, which as a 22-year-old I wasn't exactly thrilled about.

"It was 100% aimed at younger ages."

But it wasn't just the experience that proved disappointing with fans as ticket prices were also widely condemned. 

"When you think about the price you travel for an hour and spend £40 on a ticket and £15 for parking - it's off-putting, " said Miss Bond.

"We walked into a big empty hall and just started laughing thinking 'is this it?'

"We went in open-minded but it was a catastrophe.

"They didn't promise anything they advertised but we gave everything a go to keep our spirits up."

Let down by the event, Miss Bond decided to make her disappointment known by spelling the word 'refund' in blocks of Lego on a board.

She said: "We saw there was a board and people were putting their names on in Lego.

"We thought it would be funny to put refund on there just as a joke.

"We ran out of there before anyone could see us - it was a statement of our experience.

"It's comforting to know people had the same viewpoint. 

"I'm sure kids had a good time but it was not a great day."