Banksy fans from all over the UK queued for up to two hours last night for the first of four late-night openings of the exhibition at the City Museum in Bristol.

About 650 people entered the exhibition during a two-and-a-half-hour period to see the Bristol artist's collection on display for the first time.

The City Museum is regularly seeing 3,000 people through the doors each day, with people queuing during the day for up to three hours, in all weather, to get a glimpse of his work.

Among the collection on display is a Stonehenge made from portable toilets which greets visitors on arrival, a burnt-out ice-cream van now replaces the inquiries desk and the life-size historic biplane suspended from the ceiling now provides refuge for a Guantanamo bay escapee.

Helen Edwards, the temporary exhibition manager, told the Post: "People tonight seem really pleased with the exhibition. This is the first evening that we're open until 8pm, which is good for people finishing work to come down. At the start of the night people were queuing for about 45 minutes, but the building is at capacity, we are full."

Among the visitors to the last night were Ian Palmer, 49, and his family, of Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire.

His daughter Josie chose to visit the exhibition as part of her 14th birthday celebrations.

She said: "We queued for an hour, but the sign said two hours, so it was quite quick. The exhibition is so good, I particularly like the leopard. He creates lots of thought-provoking messages with his work."

Catherine Locke, 45, and her son John, nine, ofSouth Devon, also took advantage of the late-night opening.

Mrs Locke said: "His work is very clever. I really like the monkeys in the House of Commons. We read that it was late opening tonight, so thought we would come along. We queued for one-and-a-half hours."

Owen Goodman, 80, was at the exhibition with his wife, daughter, and grandchildren.

Mr Goodman, of Portishead, said: "We've been really impressed. We didn't know what to expect, especially as he's always making headlines with his work. We've enjoyed trying to interpret his work as we've looked around."

Jamie Elliott, 16, of Bedfordshire, was at the exhibition with his family.

He said: "We came down to visit our cousins in Exeter, so thought we would come to the Banksy exhibition on the way back. You can tell straight away that it's a Banksy painting. It's been really good."

Barry and Kelly Butt, of Bath, were at the exhibition with their son Jacob, 10.

Mr Butt said: "We've had a fantastic time, and we're glad that we braved the queue today. The paintings in the main gallery are fantastic, and the painting monkey in the cage is really realistic. I've really enjoyed the irony of the exhibition."

Jacob added: "It's really cool. I like the chicken nuggets the best."

The exhibition will be open late until 8pm, with the last entry at 7.30pm, on August 12, 19, and 26. The free exhibition runs until August 31. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm, with the last entry at 4pm.