Minecraft meet-up in Peterborough described as 'awful' Published duration 13 September 2015

image copyright Mojang image caption The MineVention event was not endorsed by the creators of Minecraft

Angry parents of Minecraft gamers have taken to social media to complain about "awful" queues and a lack of things to do at an unofficial convention.

About 4,100 people attended MineVention at the Peterborough Arena on Saturday to meet star players and play games.

But dozens of people said they queued for hours to meet idols and eat food, and are demanding refunds.

Organiser Lisa O'Brien said the queues were too long, and she would issue a statement about refunds in due course.

The event, which is not endorsed or associated with Minecraft developer Mojang, started in Ireland, and this was its first time in the UK.

TV presenter

It offered fans of the worldwide gaming smash Minecraft - where players build a host of objects using cubic blocks - the chance to meet famous "Youtubers", get photographs and play games.

The event, starring TV's Gadget Show presenter Jason Bradbury, also encouraged fans to dress as the game's character Steve to try to break a world record.

image copyright Bob Harvey / Geograph image caption The convention was held at Peterborough Arena

But afterwards it came under fire on social media with people complaining about long queues, a lack of food and merchandise stalls and activities for fans.

Vicky Abraham posted on Facebook that she had queued with her five-year-old son for over an hour for just 30 seconds on a PC.

Another parent said she waited 45 minutes to get a bottle of water, saying the event was "appalling" with "naff-all to do". Another got in touch with the BBC to say they left after half an hour as the queues were so bad, and her son was "crying all the way home".

Some posted on Facebook, however, that they left happy, with one saying: "I thought you put on a great event for £15."

image copyright Facebook

image copyright Facebook

image copyright Facebook

Lisa O'Brien, of O'Brien Event Management, said she did "sympathise with parents, as we all have children". She said queues were 45 minutes too long due to a large amount of people who turned up on the day rather than buying tickets in advance.

She said the convention had never been done to such a scale before, and some official merchandise did not arrive in time for the event.

She said organisers had "taken on everyone's comments and suggestions" and would be meeting to work out what went wrong, adding that a further statement would be issued on Monday evening.