HUNDREDS of North-East football fans fell victim to a multi-million pound World Cup ticket fraud, a court was told.

David Spanton's company Great Portland Entertainments (GPE) claimed it could get any number of tickets for the France 98 tournament.

But the firm failed to keep its promises and was eventually wound up days before the start of the World Cup after a Department of Trade and Industry investigation.

Blackfriars Crown Court in London heard yesterday that GPE, which is now in liquidation, owed in the region of £2.5m.

Debtors included North-East travel company Callers Pegasus, which ordered 100 tickets on behalf of Durham City Football Club.

Katherine Kell, an assistant manager with Callers Pegasus, said they paid £13,300 for the tickets. She had just sent the final instalment of £9,975 when she saw a Channel 4 documentary about ticket fraud, featuring Mr Spanton.

"I realised I should try to stop the cheque as quickly as I could," she said.

But it was too late. The company had cashed the cheque shortly before it went into receivership.

Callers Pegasus had to refund customers the full £13,300, as it was a member of the industry associations ABTA and ATOL. The firm's total loss stood at £28,600 as it had also paid for further travel arrangements.

Said Mrs Kell: "Customers were very upset and annoyed because they could not travel, but they understood it was not our fault."

The court also heard from Louise Kelly, a hospitality co-ordinator for Newcastle United FC. She had tried to get tickets for England versus Tunisia for herself, a colleague and their respective boyfriends.

Having paid £203, the tickets never arrived and no reply came from the company, despite numerous faxes and phone calls.

Timothy Hewson, who was called in to liquidate GPE, said the firm's assets stood at £100,000 and, so far, the only payment to creditors was £25,000 to the Inland Revenue.

He did not expect to recover any more cash from any other source, he said.

Mr Spanton, of Clerkenwell, London, denies fraudulent trading and failing to keep and preserve company records.

The trial continues.