Apple's much-hyped iPhone prompted a stampede to stores when it finally launched in the UK last night. With its sleek design and touch-sensitive screen, the device had gadget lovers salivating as they awaited the 6.02pm launch.

Apple's much-hyped iPhone prompted a stampede to stores when it finally launched in the UK last night.

With its sleek design and touch-sensitive screen, the device had gadget lovers salivating as they awaited the 6.02pm launch.

Huge queues formed outside around 1300 Carphone Warehouse, O2 and Apple stores.

Heralded as revolutionary, the gadget is tipped to be the biggest selling Christmas technology gift - despite some criticism of its £269 price tag.

The 8GB device combines a mobile phone handset, run only on the O2 network, with a built-in iPod media player and a wireless internet browser.

The hundreds of customers who had queued outside the Apple store in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, were finally clapped and cheered inside by staff.

First to get his hands on the new device at the city store was Steve Johnson, 34, from Motherwell.

Kissing his new iPhone, the self-employed trainer and designer, insisted that hanging around in the bitter winds since 7am had been "worth every minute".

Describing himself as an "Apple enthusiast rather than a geek" he said: "It's been worth every minute here - although I'll probably spend the whole of next week in bed with the flu. My wife thinks I'm crazy - but I wanted to be first here today. I was 16th in the queue at the store opening, and second in the queue, two weeks ago, at the launch of the new operating system."

Liverpool-born Mr Johnson, who runs his own website dedicated to the merits of the iPhone, added: "A great fuss deserves to be made of this product. It is a genuinely fantastic piece of hardware."

David Masters, 39, from Pollokshields in Glasgow, who had been waiting outside the store for nine hours, agreed.

The software developer, who was fifth in queue, said: "It is definitely a revolutionary piece of equipment. It is just ground-breaking, and in a few years, phones like this will be the standard."

Mr Masters, who brought along an iPhone he had purchased from the US to show fellow enthusiasts, added: "The atmosphere's been great. We've talked about everything from the weather to politics. A cheer even went up when the news came through that Glasgow had won the Commonwealth Games bid."

Also in line were John Walker, 46, and Stevie Scott, 44, firefighters with Strathclyde Fire & Rescue. Mr Walker joked: "We're only here to make the geeks look cool!"

Mr Scott added: "The iPhone is the gadget of the decade and it's been good to get caught up in the excitement of it all."

In line at the same store was Joanna Reid, 24, who had travelled from Edinburgh with her husband Mark, 25. "The staff at O2 were trying to entice us into their store for the launch," she said. "But it had to be Apple for us."

Edinburgh's flagship O2 Princes Street store was covered with a gold curtain from 2pm yesterday. It displayed a countdown clock ticking away the minutes until the iPhone was available to customers. As the countdown reached zero, the curtains were unveiled to allow customers in to purchase the device.

Meanwhile, some of the hundreds of customers outside the company's flagship store on London's Regent Street sipped champagne as they waited for the doors to open.

Carphone Warehouse chief executive officer Charles Dunstone said: "It is a really important day not just for Apple, but actually for the phone industry. I think it will move people's perceptions of what a mobile phone is a long way forward."

But the device is apparently not without its flaws. Its cost and internet connection speed are both cited as weak points by reviewers.

www.apple.com