Ilkley Literature Festival is proving a runaway success.

With just three weeks to go the organisers say all the seats are taken for many of events featuring the big names.

When the box office opened last week people were already queuing - and a performance by playwright Alan Bennett was sold out within two and a half hours.

This week even more sessions have sold out - with no tickets left for Jamie Oliver, William Hague, Tony Benn, David Baddiel, Benjamin Zephaniah, Francesca Martinez and Shazia Mirza.

Richard Hoggart's perform-ance has been moved from Ilkley Playhouse to the bigger venue of the Kings Hall because of the huge demand for tickets - making an extra 200 seats available.

Festival spokeswoman Jessica Ward said: "It is selling faster than any other previous festival.

"We are highly excited to see the tickets selling so fast and the festival therefore growing in popularity."

But she stressed: "Although a lot of the big names have sold out there are plenty of tickets for other exciting events."

Tickets are still available for many other performances, in-cluding one by Time Team pre-senter Tony Robinson, foot-balling legend Norman Hunter, and author Ian Rankin.

Mrs Ward added: "We are aware that for the big names there is a huge demand for tickets, but the biggest venue that we have in Ilkley would only seat 500.

"Some festivals in the UK choose to put marquees up in order to seat 1,000 plus. But these tend to be summer festivals and obviously October can bring tricky weather conditions.

"It also means that the events lose their intimacy, which is what Ilkley is renowned for."

The festival has grown in re-cent years, both in the number of events and the quality of the top names attracted.

This year's programme is one of the most diverse yet.

The box office can be contacted on 01943 816714.