SALES of Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates' debut single may be doing well across the UK, but in the North-East sales have been steady but not spectacular.

Gareth was the bookies' favourite to win the competition and won the hearts of the region when he sobbed on the shoulder of Darlington's Zoe Birkett as she was voted off the show.

Despite finishing in second place, the 17-year-old from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was signed up by record company BMG straight away and his cover of Unchained Melody reached the shops yesterday.

He is the favourite to knock Pop Idol champion Will Young off the top spot.

But whether he can take the record for the fastest-selling debut single remains to be seen.

Will sold 385,000 copies of Anything Is Possible/Evergreen on the first day of release and has sold around 1.5 million in total.

A spokesman for HMV, in Darlington, said: "Gareth seems to be selling a few more than Will did, but it is pretty much level-pegging. I think it is a safe bet that he will be number one on Sunday."

At the Virgin Megastore in Newcastle, a spokesman said: "It is a little bit slower than it was for Will. It seems anyone who buys Gareth's single is buying Will's as well."

W H Smith, in York, has not experienced a rush for sales: "He has been selling quite well and we have had a lot of people coming in specially for it, but we had no mass hysteria," said a spokesman.

Unchained Melody was originally made famous by The Righteous Brothers, but also went to the top of the chart for Sir Jimmy Young and Robson and Jerome.

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