Coldplay fans queue through night

Coldplay fans were today set to send the band's new album straight to number one, with many queuing through the night to be among the first to buy the record.

One of the most eagerly awaited releases of recent years, X&Y hits the shops today following unprecedented measures to stop the songs being illegally distributed over the internet.

But despite the best efforts of record label EMI, the album appeared on the internet last week - just days after the band was beaten to the number one spot in the singles charts by the Crazy Frog ringtone.

Virgin Megastores organised midnight openings at two West End branches for fans who could not wait until 8am this morning.

Among the first in line at Virgin's Piccadilly store were law students Azmi Aziz, 20, and Hakeem Basir, 23. Aziz, from Brunei, said: "I have been hearing a lot of good things about the new album so I wanted to be one of the first to check it out."

Student Costes Laetitia, from France, said: "It has been such a long time since their last album." German fan Susanne Eltz, 25, added: "I just love the music and couldn't wait to buy the CD."

X&Y comes three years after Coldplay's last album, A Rush Of Blood To The Head, which sold more than 20 million copies.