Kiwi fruitless

The Hobbit casting call for extras described a search for men under 164cm and women under 155cm, big men with "character faces" over 175cm, men with large biceps, women with "character faces" and women with long hair to appear in  Peter Jackson's prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The production company in New Zealand expected around 1200 to turn up for the audition; in the event, more than 3000 lined the parking area at Lower Hutt, near Wellington, spilling over dangerously on to the motorway.

Result was the call had to be cancelled after just 800 had paraded past the filmmaker. Organisers will now continue their hunt online.

First of a pair, the film, subtitled An Unexpected Journey, is due in cinemas in December