SALES of Grand Theft Auto IV set tills ringing across the country yesterday - with the controversial computer game selling out within hours.

Thousands of fans had queued up around Britain at midnight on Tuesday to be among the first to own a copy of the adults-only adventure, the latest in a series which has been criticised for its violent storylines involving drug-dealing and prostitution.

And by lunchtime yesterday, stores were already turning customers away after selling out of their entire allocation of the £39.99 title for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Gerry Berkley, trading manager for games at Woolworths, said: "Grand Theft Auto IV has been flying off the shelves with our stores selling 200 copies a minute at one stage. Yesterday was a sell out. We are currently doing everything we can to secure additional stock for our customers."

The game is expected to make £200m in its first week on sale alone with internet retailer Play.com expecting to shift 500,000 copies before the weekend. It took on 90 extra staff to help pack them all up.

Andy Mcfie, ASDA's games buyer, added: "By 7am yesterday, we had sold two-thirds of all stock, and we had sold out completely by 10am. We are looking to get more as soon as we can."

But there has been disappointment for some players who did get their hands on one and were desperate to complete the missions within the first 24 hours. Many had taken the day off work, or thrown a sickie, to play.

Internet forums have seen a small number of gamers complain that their copy of the adventure freezes mid-way through. The problem appears to be confined to PlayStation 3 copies, although a few Xbox 360 owners have claimed to experience it.

Stores are now bracing themselves for a new wave of deliveries and customers at the weekend.

HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said: "We opened around 20 of our stores at midnight to cater to the expected demand, and many other HMV stores nationwide opened early to accommodate the anticipated rush - allowing customers to buy a copy on their way to work.

"If they aren't already, most of our stores are likely to be sold out by tomorrow, and are already awaiting their next stock delivery in time for the weekend."

He added: "As predicted, GTA IV is proving to be our fastest-ever selling computer game. It's the most pre-orders our hmv.com website has ever had for a games title and the intense level of interest over the last few weeks has attracted more mainstream customers, including quite a few female players."