Londoners Queue For Charlie Hebdo

Hundreds of people queued for hours outside newsagents and bookshops in London today (Friday 16 January) to buy copies of the first Charlie Hebdo magazine since the deadly shootings in Paris.

Demand has been high for the magazine's new issue, which carries a front-cover cartoon of a crying Prophet Mohammed, in the wake of last week's attack that saw gunmen kill 12 people at its offices.

More than 1,000 copies are thought to have been made available in the UK, as newsagents braced themselves for a rush.

Around 200 people were queuing from the early hours outside the French Bookshop, in South Kensington, London, which limited sales of Charlie Hebdo to one copy per customer.

Some people started waiting outside the shop shortly after midnight, including Moritz Riewoldt, from Germany, who arrived at 12.20am and was one of the first to emerge with the magazine shortly after 8.15am.

The 22-year-old who lives in Putney, south west London, said: "It's important to be here to support the freedom of the press. I know what it can mean to a country.

"If you're scared of saying what you think, I know where this can lead.

"It's part of history and you can probably tell your grandchildren that.

"It's a stick-up to the terrorists to say you're not going to get us down this easily and make a stand."

A reported five million copies of the magazine are being printed, its largest-ever run, with translations into English, Spanish and Arabic, and versions available in the UK, Italy and Turkey.