ANYONE doubting the resurgence in popularity of vinyl records need only have passed Bolton’s x-records shop on Saturday.

Hundreds of vinyl fans descended on the Bridge Street store to celebrate the annual Record Store Day.

x-records was one of more than 200 independent record shops from across the UK to take part in the event.

“It’s better than ever,” said Mr Steve Meekins, who opened the shop in 1985.

“This is the tenth year we have taken part and it gets more and more popular each time.”

He said that a couple of customers on Saturday spent around £1,000 each, and one customer even flew in from Belfast!

Many of the customers queued for eight hours overnight to ensure they got their desired discs.

More than 500 different limited-edition records were released exclusively for sale in the participating shops on the day. These ranged from albums by huge, well-known bands, to work by new or obscure groups.

x records was the first shop in Bolton that Mr Gavin Morrison visited when he moved to the town to study at Bolton Institute in 1988.

“It is a real shop run by real people who know their stuff,” said Mr Morrison, aged 48, of Fairway Avenue, Harwood.

“You get a personal service and it’s a far better experience than just clicking and buying online.”

Mr Morrison was not only shopping for himself on Saturday.

“My brother lives in Scotland and he sent me a shopping list!”

Nostalgia for the days of more simple technology was not the only appeal of the event.

Teenagers Daniel Jones and Kian Wild were not even born during the original heyday of vinyl, but they are keen converts.

“Records just sound so much better,” said Daniel, aged 17, of Second Street, Bolton. “I also like the fact that a lot of them are released exclusively for Record Store Day.”

Bolton Sixth Form College student, Kian, aged 16, of Eskrick Street, said he only has four vinyl records so far, but it is his ambition to build up a huge collection in time.

Someone whose collection already exceeds 500 records is Gary Branagan. Joining him in the queue was his wife, Alison, aged 49.

They were on the lookout for1980s albums and were hoping to get their hands on records by The Eurythmics and Erasure.

“Records are real, they’re tangible,” enthused Mr Branagan, 60, of Manchester Road West, Little Hulton.

Mr Denis Mason, aged 42, of Chorley allowed himself a budget of £200 to spend on the day.

He said he got particular pleasure from listening to new bands the traditional way.

For Mr Chris Ford, 51, of Ladybridge, just the smell of vinyl is enough to get his pulse racing.

Tom Bates, (21), and Jack Rawes, (22), travelled from Warrington and arrived at 5am, so keen were they to secure a place in the queue.

“This was the closest record shop we could find that was taking part in Record Store Day,” explained Tom.

And the disc-loving duo made sure they were fully prepared by bringing garden chairs with them!