A crowd of more than 600 hysterical fans queued for hours to meet Big Brother stars Nichola Holt and Darren Campbell.

Brighton's Churchill Square was packed with people waiting to catch a glimpse of the new celebrities who turned up at Borders bookshop to sign copies of a book released by Channel 4, named Big Brother, the Unseen Story.

Scores of screaming schoolgirls flocked into the bookshop and huddled around Nichola and Darren to get their signatures. The book documents the game show that captured the nation's imagination.

Nichola told the fans: "It's great to be in Brighton, I love Brighton."

Lynsey Budgen, 16, of Silver Birches, Haywards Heath, and Camilla Joysury, 17, of Pineham Copse, Haywards Heath, said they had never missed a show during the whole summer series.

Lynsey, who gave Darren a kiss, said: "I can't believe I got to meet them, I can't stop shaking. Darren is my favourite. I voted for him to win. I won't wash my cheek for a week."

Camilla said: "It was so exciting. We're both big fans, we rushed straight down here from Haywards Heath to get here by 4pm."

Grandmother June Lane, 67, queued for two hours to get the book signed for her daughter, Andrea, 37, and granddaughter, Emily, 15. She said: "They will be so pleased with me. We all love the show."

The staff at the bookshop had planned to go for a drink with Nichola and Darren after the signing but this was cut short because the pair had to rush back to London for an award ceremony.

The store's events manager, Stephen Torsi, said: "We had discussed it and we thought we were going out to a bar but they said they couldn't at the last minute, unfortunately."

"They chose this bookshop because we are really experienced at putting on big events.

"We had J K Rowling down here and that brought in a similarly huge crowd, just as Patrick Moore did."

First in the queue was Linda Smith, and her daughters, Vanessa, ten, and Sarah, nine, of West Park Crescent, Brighton, who said: "We're big fans, but this is what we do.

"It's a hobby of ours trying to meet celebrities. It's thanks to the Argus we knew this was on, so we came and queued. I went to McDonald's at 3pm and when I came back the line of people was just massive."

Staff had to turn at least 60 people away when the doors closed at 5.50pm. Mr Torsi said: "It was a shame we had to turn anybody away."

Darren and Nichola left the store shortly after 6pm.