British retailers have been bereft of stock for weeks now, and with frantic shoppers now getting increasingly desperate to land one of the consoles, we hear talk that enterprising present-buyers are heading to in search of Wii availability.

While The Daily Mirror reports that some auctions have seen Wii's selling on eBay for up to 1,000 GBP, we learn that stocks are available on the continent, with France in particular witnessing an influx of Britons after Nintendo's machine.

"English interest is phenomenal," one employee of French game store Micromania told the paper, speaking of queues outside stores, and a limit of one Wii per customer being imposed. Calais in particular has witnessed British shoppers eager for Wiis, in addition to cheap Christmas booze.

How long France's stocks will last, and what will happen when they're exhausted remains unclear. We'll keep you posted.

By Luke Guttridge