Apple iPhone 4S released in the UK

Thousands of people have queued outside Apple stores to get their hands on the iPhone 4S.

Apple's iPhone 4S has hit the market in the UK today (October 14th 2011), with stores across the country opening at 08:00 BST to meet demand from eager techies.

Huge crowds queued outside Apple shops for the occasion, with the Daily Mail reporting that as many as 1,000 people were waiting outside the phonemaker's flagship Covent Garden outlet.

The handset is available on 3 Mobile, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone, with Virgin Media confirming to T3 that it will not be stocking the device despite its expected popularity.

Director of mobile at Virgin Media Jamie Heywood explained: "Clearly it is a great device and it is a device that many customers within the Virgin Media base will have."

However, he said the carrier will not sell the smartphone, although it will review this decision on an ongoing basis.

Apple announced earlier this week that the iPhone 4S had racked up one million pre-orders in a single day, surpassing the previous record of 600,000 set by the iPhone 4.