Sonisphere festival cancelled, official statement reveals

Organisers have confirmed that Sonisphere 2012 has been cancelled. Fans will be refunded money paid for tickets.

The festival revealed the news via its official website this morning saying: "It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012.

"Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar. Unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere’s audience would rightly expect."

"We want to express our deepest regrets to the artists and to thank all the staff, suppliers and contractors who worked so hard with us to try and pull off what has proven to be an impossible task and we know how much they share in our disappointment. We also want to send a huge thanks to the Sonisphere fans who stuck by us and we are so sorry that we can’t fulfil what we set out to do."

"Ticket holders will automatically receive a full refund direct from their ticket agents."

The news first broke online last night, when headliners Queen announced on their website: "It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012".

The July event, which was due to play host to headliners including Kiss, Faith No More and Queen is said to have struggled to sell tickets for the 2012 event, despite being one of the UK's few remaining true rock events.

Check out the best bits of Sonisphere 2011 below