High fashion is a feature of Royal Ascot

Tickets went on sale on Monday morning and a spokeswoman said: "The phones have been going crazy."

The famous horse racing festival is being moved north while the Berkshire course is redeveloped.

Royal Ascot tickets do not normally go on sale until the new year. But the date has been brought forward because of an expected large demand.

The meeting takes place between 14 and 18 June with capacity of the main stands and royal enclosure limited to 50,000 on each day.

Tickets currently on sale are priced between �18 and �50 although tickets for the royal enclosure are being held back until January.

Plans are being made for a further 10,000 tickets for each day to be made available to York residents in an enclosure along the rails. An announcement about these tickets are expected in the new year.