APPLE mania reached fever pitch today as punters queued to become the first to get their hands on the new iPhone.

In London hundreds were cheered into the brand's Convent Garden store.

Apple store workers dressed in blue T-shirts formed a passageway and high-fived customers who had been waiting outside the shop for up to a week.

Hordes of excited shoppers gathered outside Newcastle's Apple store to get their hands on the new iPhone 5.

The 500-strong queue, which snaked through Eldon Square shopping centre in Newcastle Upon Tyne, was filled with technophiles determined to be among the first in the country to own the new phone.

Mark Challiner, 42, braved the freezing rain to arrive at the store at 4am to stake his place in the queue as the doors opened at 8am.

The new phone starts at £529 for the 16GB model and the top model is £699 for the 64GB version.

Mark, of Stoke on Trent, who works as an accountant in Staffordshire, said: "We've been here since around 4am and I'm very tired now.

"The people from the store have been handing out snacks and bottled water to keep us going.

"I've got an iPhone4 and I can't wait to get the new model.

"I've already seen one in the shop and it's a lot faster, lighter and it's taller.

"I do think queuing up for nearly five hours will be worth it.

"I've queued for an iPad and an iPhone 4 and it's always been worth it.

"I've always loved Apple products, I love the way they work, the way they integrate with each other.

"This new phone will just work straight away, I'm just so excited.

"I've had my iPhone4 now for two years, I waited last year to see if the iPhone 5 was coming out but it was just the iPhone4s.

"I've waited for so long now, what's another five hours?

"My son in 18, he's even more of an Apple fan than me.

"We're an entire family of gadget lovers really."

Mark was joined in the queue by his partner of 23 years, Joanne Felstead.

Joanne, also 42, works as a solicitor in Staffordshire, she said: "We've been here since 4am but it's ok, the Apple store staff have been lovely.

"I used to have a Blackberry but Mark convinced me to convert to an iPhone two years ago.

"It was a revelation, so much faster.

"I'm due an upgrade now and I thought why not be one of the first people to have the new one?

"Quite a few people have wondered why there's such a big crowd of people, but I suppose some people don't know that there's a new iPhone coming out.

"We had to get up before 4am to get here, it was freezing and raining.

"It will be worth it though.

"Everybody in the queue seems really happy and we've been really well looked after."