Scores of people have been sighted braving long queues at the crack of dawn in a bid to get their hands on some of music's most prized collections.

Music lovers came out in huge numbers today for Record Store Day at shops across Kent.

The annual bonanza, which first began in 2008, sees fans flock to stores in an attempt to get their hands on limited edition vinyl presses and it’s not unusual to see some come prepared with chairs and sleeping bags.

This year's event has been made popular by the selling of Taylor Swift's 'Fortnight' single being released on a 7” white vinyl.

Other bestsellers during the day have included albums by the likes of Charli XCX, Oasis, The Coral and Gorillaz.

The Record Store boss Vince Monticelli says hundreds of melomaniacs have visited his unit in Ashford's Park Mall so far today.

The 66-year-old told KentOnline: "We prepared everything last night, but then security in the centre phoned me at 6am to say people are queuing and blocking the doors of other shops.

"When we opened at 8am there were about 50 or 60 people and it's just been a good solid flow of people.

"It's all specific releases and limited editions which have flown out.

"Madness, Blur's zoetrope and its The Magic Whip album are stuff some people have been going nuts for.

"It's all part of the fun queuing for something rare and people have been in good spirits and humour about it all."

Katie Mercer and Eliza Ayers were the first people in the queue for the opening of Analogue Music Rochester this morning.

The pair began their night-long wait at 10pm yesterday in a bid to see what the high street store had on offer.

Set up by boss Alistair Taylor in April 2023, the store has also been stocking songs from the likes of Sam Fender and hip-hop group, De La Soul.

Meanwhile, father-and-son duo Nick and Jake Pygott, of Vinylstore Jr in Castle Street, Canterbury, say this year's gala has been the busiest ever.

"It has been brilliant - we had people here from quarter to three this morning," Jake said.

"We've had the biggest queue we've ever had and they really have been huge.

"Normally we have about 30 minutes of solid selling and then it calms down but it went on for about two hours today, so it's been fantastic.

"We've had 150 actual titles and lots of copies of them so we've stocked more lines than we normally do.

“There was a lot more pop this year which brings more people out, especially when Taylor Swift is involved.”