Hundreds of people queued for over two hours in Birmingham this morning to get their hands on the new iPhone.

Shoppers waited from 6am onwards outside the 02 store in the BullRing but some were left frustrated and angry when the shop's systems went down for up to an hour and they were told that the shop only had 15 of the 16GB handsets in stock. 

James Fussey, 24, from Windsor, a music teacher visiting Birmingham, had been outside the shop since 5.50am and was first to get his hands on the latest must have gadget.  

He said: "Me and my friend got to the O2 shop at ten to six this morning. 

"I was worried I might miss out. They had already sold out online, so we thought, 'why not just come down?'

"Funnily enough we got there just as the Bull Ring staff were arriving.  We did get a couple of funny looks of people. 

"At around half six, four more people turned up, it gradually got longer and out of nowhere hundreds of people turned up.

"The store opened at 8.02 am, as the doors opened I was really excited, then we found only out the system had broken down.  So I was worried I wasn't going to get one at all.

"After about an hour me and my friend finally got one, which is amazing.

"They're brilliant phones, and with limited stocks  not many people will have them. 

"They have got loads of added features and are great phones."

James friend James Manwaring, 25, who is also from Windsor and a music teacher added: "I think it was worth getting there so early, as there were only a few in stock.  It was quite fun waiting with everyone.

"Apple is a good company and the phone is cool, I'm glad I did."

Lee Rue, 29, from West Bromwich, said: "We had been waiting here for ages and then they tell us they only had 15 of the 16GB handsets and on top of that the systems went down - it's a disgrace. 

"Just 15 handsets for a city the size of Birmingham, which has a million people, is a bit daft.

"You would expect that they would stock up and have provisions in place for such the launch of something this big.

"I had not be told after I've been waiting for nearly two hours that they didn't have the handset that I want."