The launch of the iPhone X has been greeted by large crowds outside Apple's Churchill Square store.

The new phone contains facial recognition technology for the first time and is also the first iPhone to house an edge-to-edge screen.

With prices starting at £999, it is also the most expensive iPhone ever.

Industry experts had predicted large queues for the launch, after the iPhone 8 - released in September - was met with a muted response.

Smartphone expert Ernest Doku, from uSwitch.com, said many consumers had chosen to wait for the X as they saw it as the "main event" phone.

Labelled the "future" of the iPhone by Apple boss Tim Cook, the iPhone X uses FaceID facial recognition to unlock the device, doing away with the Home button and Touch ID fingerprint sensor of previous iPhone handsets.

The launch comes in the wake of strong quarterly financial results on Thursday night, with Apple also predicting revenue in the next quarter of more than 80 billion dollars (£61.3 billion), a suggestion that the company is confident of strong sales.

Many other customers who pre-ordered the iPhone X had been given delivery dates up to six weeks away, after the initial stock sold out in minutes when pre-orders began on October 27.

Large queues were reported outside Apple retail stores globally, including in Australia and China.

Tweeting early on Friday morning, Apple chief executive Mr Cook thanked customers who were "turning out around the world" to buy the new phone.