Call waiting: long queues greet the arrival of the iPhone

From 5.50pm yesterday, the pavement on one side of Regent Street, just south of Oxford Circus Tube station, was completely blocked. A crowd had consumed the area in front of Apple's flagship London store but, from the edge of the throng, it was still possible to make out the huge model of a mobile phone hanging in the window, beaming out the news – "Only 11 minutes and a few seconds to go".

The hundreds of people queuing to be the first to get their hands on Apple's newest innovation – the iPhone – had spent up to 30 hours braving chill winds. The line of twitching technophiles extended for 300 yards around the corner. Finally, at 6.02pm yesterday, the £269 iPhone went on sale at more than 1,300 Apple, Carphone Warehouse and 02 stores. 02, the network operator, employed an extra 1,400 staff to tackle the expected rush of sales. One million of the handsets were sold in the US within 74 days of release, and the iPhone is expected to be a big-selling Christmas gift in the UK this year.

With five minutes until the doors opened, the jostling began. The dignified etiquette of the previous 30 hours gave way to a raucous, elbow-bashing competition, requiring the intervention of an army of stewards. The police, conscious that an impassable pavement in rush-hour traffic was far from safe, did their best to clear it.

Ten seconds left. Nine, eight, seven, and up went the screams, filling the air with giddy excitement as Apple's trademark black flag waved above the main entrance. Two, one...

The doors were flung open and in thundered the first customers. Exchanging cheers and "high-fives", the geeks waltzed up the glass staircase in the centre of the shop to hand over their cash and collect their prizes, as if ascending into iHeaven.

Then came the chant. beginning as "A-pple, A-pple" but soon switching to "iPhone, iPhone". As the first successful buyers returned, they posed at the top of the stairs, screaming with joy with their arms aloft and little black boxes in hand. They were hugged and congratulated as they reached the ground floor. Once outside, they ripped open their boxes to gaze in wonder upon the new toy. "I've been queuing for hours but this is just the most incredible feeling," said Andrew Hrymkiewicz, 27, an investment banker. "Look at it!"

Pele Papere, 34, a musician, added: "For its size, this machine is amazing. I've got the internet, a phone, my music – and all of it fits in my pocket and comes with me everywhere."

For some buyers, the carnival atmosphere was as much a prize as the phone itself. "I can't really believe it", said Spencer McDonald, a 20-year-old student. "I feel like a movie star. I hope I'm treated like this the next time I buy a phone."