IT was an early start for gaming enthusiasts who queued for almost seven hours at a Hampshire supermarket to get their hands on a Nintendo Wii.

Only 15 of the must-have games consoles were on sale at Asda's Totton branch, prompting a queue to start forming just after midnight. First in line was Ian Crump of Millbrook, Southampton, who is shown above with the console.

He said: "We decided to queue up because we knew there weren't many around.

"We were first in the queue to make sure we got one and I will be spending the next week off work playing it."

All the £180 consoles in stock at the store were sold minutes after the doors opened at 7am today.