A NIGHT on the streets paid off for an Epping Forest College student as he became the first person in the country to lay his hands on the most eagerly awaited piece of technology this year.

Performing arts student Jake Lee, 17, had set up camp yesterday with his friend Joe Woodcock from Theydon Bois outside Apple’s Regent Street store to be at the top of the queue when the company’s revolutionary iPad computer went on sale for the first time this morning.

Emerging triumphantly from the store, the Btec student told the Guardian: “I've waited for so long and I've finally got it. January 27, as soon as I saw it, I wanted to get it.

“The staff were so supportive, especially last night, they looked after us, gave us some food, gave us some umbrellas when it started to rain.”