X Factor winner James Arthur's Shrewsbury gig sells out in five hours

Fans of the singer snapped up all 1,800 tickets for the 24-year-old's first UK performance, at The Buttermarket, in Shrewsbury, by 1.30pm yesterday afternoon.

They had only gone on sale at 9am. More than 700 tickets sold in the first hour.

James will become the latest and biggest star from the X Factor to appear at the newly-refurbished nightclub when he performs on December 29.

The huge ticket surge was described as 'overwhelming' by club bosses as fans from across the country flooded telephone lines and the nightclub's website which temporarily crashed.

All earlybird and VIP tickets for the show had sold out by mid-morning as the news went viral on social networking sites.

It comes just a week after fellow X-Factor acts Union J, Ella Henderson and Rylan Clark sparked a massive dash for tickets after revealing separate show dates at the club over the festive period.

James Arthur will perform five tracks during the concert and then hold a limited meet and greet with some of the fans with VIP tickets afterwards.

Martin Monahan, owner of The Buttermarket, said: "I'm absolutely overjoyed and overwhelmed by the response and the support we've had from people today in Shropshire but also from across the West Midlands and further afield.

"To sell out in half a day is simply incredible.

"I'm so delighted that James has decided to make The Buttermarket the first gig he has confirmed and the news has just spread like wildfire on social media sites.

"The phone lines have been manic and our website did crash for a little while at 8.45am because of the huge online traffic we were getting."

He added: "It is absolutely fantastic and everyone is so excited about James Arthur performing at the venue.

"I couldn't be more thrilled.

"It is such a large coup for us and Shropshire as a whole."

By David Seadon