HUNDREDS of people queued for up to six hours to meet legendary wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough in Festival Place this afternoon.

The 88-year-old broadcaster and naturalist visited Waterstones to sign copies of his autobiography Life on Air, and the line of fans began building from around 6.30am, ready for his arrival just after 12.30pm.

Organisers had to stop people from waiting after the line reached the maximum capacity of 440 and snaked through the shopping centre and copies of the book sold out quickly.

First in line was the Killick family, from Oakridge.

Mum Kerry, 49, is a carer for her two daughters Constance, 18 and Felicity, 13, who have autism.

She said: “We are really big fans. When Felicity was younger and she got too big for me to read to her, I used to put on David Attenborough DVDs for her to watch, which she loved. She thought he was her dad.”

She said that when Sir David heard the story previously, he had sent Felicity a personal letter.

Also among those waiting in the queue were friends Zilvinas Zacharauskas, 22, and Toby Mould, 23, who study chemistry at Surrey University.

The pair arrived at 6.40am, to be sure of getting a chance to meet the legendary broadcaster.

Toby said: “I love travelling and have been to quite a few of the places he has made programmes about.

“It was great to meet him and get the books signed.”

Students Summer Hales, Hannah Franklin, Kelly Lowe and Annie Hudson, were also among the first in the queue this morning.

The friends, who are all studying animal management at Sparsholt College, near Winchester, said Sir David was a hero of theirs.

Annie, 17, from Ringwood, said: “We were up at 5 this morning but it was definitely worth it.

“He’s amazing, we are all really big fans. What he has achieved is incredible.”

She said that she would love to follow in his footsteps and pursue a career centred around animals.

As well as being the face and voice of natural history programmes in the UK, Sir David was also the controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s.

He is known for programmes including the Life series including Life in the Freezer, The Life of Mammals and The Life of Birds.

His new book Life on Air is a personal memoir, full of accounts of expeditions and off-camera tales.

Helen Roberts, manager at Waterstones in Basingstoke, said it was one of the most popular events they had hosted.

She said: “It is lovely to see so many people visiting Waterstones to get the chance to meet Sir David Attenborough, from the very young to the very old.

“From the moment we announced that he was coming we have been getting phone calls from people who were desperate to come along or to have their books signed.

“It is a great thing for Basingstoke.”