THEY faced a long wait, but hundreds of youngsters queued for hours to catch a glimpse of best-selling children's author Jacqueline Wilson.
The writer was signing copies of her new book, Secrets, at Borders and her young fans flocked to the Davygate store to see her in person.
At one point, Borders bosses estimated that the queue, which stretched from the store back to McDonalds, meant a wait of more than two hours for eager autograph hunters.
Ms Wilson has sold a string of top-selling children's novels,including The Suitcase Kid, Bad Girls and The Illustrated Mum.
Marketing manager John Hargreaves said the queues far exceeded anything the store had been expecting. "We got 1,200 copies of her book, we soon didn't have many left," he said.
"Everyone was really desperate to see Jacqueline Wilson and we were very pleased to have booked her. "It was madness. People were queuing right up Davygate. It was a two-hour wait for some at McDonalds, but wait they did."
Updated: 10:12 Saturday, March 23, 2002
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