AS APPLE’S iPhone 5 goes on sale across the country this morning, a Swanley businessman was the first to get his hands on the new model in London.

Twenty-two-year-old Ryan Williams has been camping outside the flagship Apple store in Covent Garden for a week in a bid to raise money for Cancer Research.

The IT businessman, who was joined by his 19-year-old friend Peter King in the bizarre charity stunt, said the atmosphere was “crazy’ when he finally got his hands on the phone.

He said: “I didn't expect that kind of entrance to be honest with you, I thought I was just queueing for a phone but it was absolutely mad.

“It was a crazy thing to queue here for a week but it was really good fun, I would definitely do it again, we've raised so much money for Cancer Research UK as well which is absolutely fantastic.

“I was just trying to utilise the fact that there's so much publicity around iPhone queueing, so if we could build on that and raise money for charity at the same time, we were doing it for a good cause.”

Meanwhile in Greenhithe’s Bluewater shopping centre, hundreds of fans queued up to grab the new gadget from the Apple store when it opened two-hours early at 8am.

The phone is already guaranteed to be a best-seller, with the company reporting pre-orders around the world of two million in just 24 hours and many customers not expected to receive theirs until October.

The iPhone 5 boasts 200 new features including a new processor, an upgraded camera and a brand new maps application.

You can follow Ryan and Peter’s progress throughout the week here .

Have you queued up to get your hands on the new iPhone? Send your pictures to awoods@london.newsquest.co.uk .