ALMOST half the apartments to go on sale at York's newest riverside development have been snapped up in just two days.

And the remainder of the first three floors of the Westgate Development in Leeman Road are expected to be sold within the next week.

A total of 25 flats were sold over the weekend out of the 58 that were up for grabs, with 22 being taken on Saturday. And the river view apartments were the first to go.

Eager homebuyers waited through the night to secure their place at the front of the queue outside the Bridge Street offices of Bryant Homes when they opened on Saturday morning.

But some customers were left disappointed when they were unable to purchase the property they wanted because the flats were sold on a first come first served basis.

Bella Lagard, part of the Knight Frank sales team for Bryant Homes, said: "We had lots of people in who wanted the same flats.

"But it was first come first served - we couldn't do it any other way really.

"We have had a lot of people in that didn't get the flat they wanted so they went away and they will be looking for a higher floor.

"It's hard to disappoint people and have to turn them away, but there's nothing we can do."

Her colleague Penny Mountain said: "We have sold 25 flats so far and the interest on the upper floors is more than 50 per cent.

"I thought it was possible that all the flats would go this weekend but I think the timing is probably bad.

"A lot of people that would have come are actually on holiday.

"We are not in the least bit worried, we are very optimistic and hopefully in a week or two they will all be sold."

The sales team will now contact interested parties by telephone in order to sell the remaining properties.

Flats on the first three floors of the block are on the market for between £115,000 and £220,000.

The upper floors of the seven-storey building, including the split level penthouses, will go on sale later in the year for unspecified prices.

Updated: 08:29 Monday, August 20, 2001