FANS of Apple’s iPhone queued through the night to buy the latest model at a York store.

Doors opened at 8am yesterday at the O2 shop on Coney Street, but the keenest customers were there ten hours earlier at 10pm on Wednesday to make sure they could buy the new iPhone 4.

Enthusiasts were also camped outside the 02 store in Harrogate from the early hours of the morning, including father and son Mitch and Simon Mitchell, who started queuing at 3.30am.

The new version of the mobile phone is smaller and lighter than the older 3GS version and has a larger battery.

Dale Stones, 30, from Woodthorpe, York, took the day off work as a healthcare assistant at York Hospital especially, queuing in Coney Street, York, from 7am to get to the front by 10.30am.

“My ward sister knew it was coming,” he said. “I’m just a huge Apple fan. I queued for the first model and then the 3G. It’s like everything with Apple, it starts off exclusive and then becomes very popular.

“This one has got a better camera so you don’t need to carry a separate compact camera with you anymore and it has high definition video and just lots of great features and a nice looking design.”

Staff from the store provided food and drink for the people queuing, and informed student Alex Marin, 23, he would receive the last phone in stock, so that those behind him avoided waiting pointlessly. At another store in Coney Street, Phones 4U, where the iPhone 4 was also available, queues had been avoided with a pre-booking and deposit system. However, staff were experiencing difficulty because the phones could not be connected to the O2 network.

Ed Chambers, 22, of Deighton, near York, said: “It’s a very attractive product and I’m just a huge fan. It’s been a long wait but I’m sure it will be worth it. I’ll go back to bed once I’ve got it!”

Daniel Gray, 32, a graphic designer from York said: “I’m a sucker for Apple products, so that’s why I’m here.”