Hundreds of comedians unpaid by one of UK's biggest comedy festivals

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Hundreds of comedians unpaid by one of UK's biggest comedy festivals10 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleCharlie HaynesEast Midlands InvestigationsBBCBen Alborough said he was frustrated money was not ringfenced to pay actsHundreds of comedians have been unpaid by one of the biggest comedy festivals in the UK. Leicester Comedy Festival attracted about 100,000 spectators and more than 500 acts this year, including Sir Stephen Fry, Sara Pascoe and Rosie Holt, many of whom have not been paid. Organisers said they aimed to pay all performers as soon as possible after the event, which ran from 4 to 22 February, but added the delay was due to cashflow problems that they were trying to resolve.

Comedian Ben Alborough said: "I'm owed just short of £2,000. It's very frustrating. I've got bills to pay like everyone else.

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"Dave NatrissAlborough on stage as the late Sir Terry Wogan as part of a satirical variety showAlborough, who works in comedy full-time, said pay issues were common across the board. "Between festival registration fees and travel and accommodation and production costs, I have to invest several hundred pounds per individual show," he said. The 33-year-old said he owed his career to the Leicester event after starting out there as a student.

"I want the Leicester Comedy Festival to succeed because it's a brilliant thing. "But in order to do that, everyone needs to get paid. Artists need to be paid money," he added.

Alborough is one of hundreds of performers owed money by the comedy festival. They were set to be paid on 19 April, but instead were sent an email telling them their settlement payment would be delayed. Andrew Max LevyZoe Brownstone, a Canadian stand-up comic, performed at the festivalCanadian stand-up comedian Zoe Brownstone said she was owed £180 by the festival.

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"I've done a few festivals. This by a mile was the most prepared, people donated more , leaving the festival I felt great. "I've never felt so positive," she said.

However, she said she was left disappointed to still be without payment. "It is astonishing to me that a big organised festival can't pay me at the end of the day," Brownstone said. Rachel Johnson said she was owed £600 for two shows she hosted for the comedy festivalComedians are not the only ones waiting for payment.

Rachael Johnson, who organises events across Lutterworth in Leicestershire, said she was still owed £600 after hosting two events. "We've paid all our acts and all of our team, but we haven't actually had the money for the ticket sales come through... so we're well and truly out of pocket.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.