HUNDREDS of people have camped out overnight to be among the first to get their hands on the new Apple iPhone.

A queue of Apple fans snaked through Above Bar, as shoppers wait to get into the Apple Store inside WestQuay.

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Photo by Jack White

There are two new models being released today - the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

And Simon Casey and Ben Brown, pictured below, were delighted to be the first to buy the new phones from the Southampton shop.

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Simon, 33, of Bournemouth, said: "We have come here every year since the store opened and we spent the night just chatting about the product.

"I use it for work and personal and every time the previous models came out I was the first in line by myself.

"I will be queuing for the next one as well."

Ben, 29, also of Bournemouth, added: "Luckily there were two of us this time."

Donuts, cookies, coffee and water were provided for the dedicated customers who chatted, sat in camping chairs, and in some cases caught a few seconds of precious sleep.

Some in the queue had reserved places, while others turned up more opportunistically in the hope that there would be enough phones to go around.

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Queues are snaking around West Quay

At 8am the excitement built to fever pitch as staff counted down from 10 before cheering loudly as the first customers made their way into the shop.

Store leader David Lewis said he admired the commitment of shoppers who patiently waited overnight.

He said: "The first person started queuing at 4pm and we gave her a goody bag and  a seat and everything.

"It's an incredible day and the reaction to the phones has been beyond our wildest expectations.

"We respect hugely the people who give that amount of time and dedication to queue."

The two handsets are almost the same, except the Plus variant has a 5.5in screen, as opposed to a 4.7in one on the cheaper model.

The iPhone 6 starts at £539 for a 16gb model, while the iPhone plus is priced from £619 for the same capacity.