Star Wars fanatics queued for hours at cinemas across Essex to get their hands on gold-dust tickets for the show's opening night.

At cinemas in both Southend and Basildon, fired-up fans got comfortable on pavements outside the Odeon and UCI around 8pm - four hours before the tickets went on sale.

The wait was made slightly easier in Southend as generous staff handed out cardboard cups of free steaming tea.

Meanwhile in Basildon, there was a double celebration, as the multi-screen cinema took on 15 extra staff to cope with the massive influx of die-hard Star Wars fans.

Cinema bosses are expecting audience figures to treble due to the film - reaching 45,000 bums on seats each week.

At Southend, the strike of midnight signalled the surge of up to 50 people rushing forward to place orders.

Joan Nudd, 20, of Buckingham Road, Hockley, was first in the queue with a group of pals at the Odeon cinema.

She works at the venue, but still had to join the public rush for tickets.

She said: "I have been here since 8pm even though I work here. I thought there would be people in front of us in the queue. I am doing this because I have watched Star Wars since my childhood."

The Odeon kept its staff behind the tills through the night to serve eager fans and those working at UCI were planning to keep open as long as the customers kept on coming.

Each customer was limited to 12 tickets after eager callers jammed phone lines attempting to get hold of up to 80 at a time.

Episode One - The Phantom Menace is predicted to be the all time biggest selling movie after box office records were broken in America.

UCI is gearing up for the expected rush. Staff have already been increased to 57 and bosses plan to increase that to about 80 over the summer.

Cinema bosses have also asked Basildon Council for permission to open regularly beyond 2am at weekends.

But fans still have a wait to use their hard-won tickets - the film is not officially screened until Friday July 16, with several cinemas running previews the day before.

Fanatics - queues build up outside the Odeon cinema, Southend, for Star Wars tickets

Picture: ANDY PALMER

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