A British microcomputer with ambitions to revitalise computer science sold out yesterday just hours after release.

The £22 Raspberry Pi went on sale 6am Wednesday morning and just hours later its reseller RS and Farnell was battling a crashed website due to over demand.

A BBC News article on the device drew in 1.2 million views, the most of that day, according to a journalist working for the broadcaster.

The credit card-sized Raspberry Pi is conceived primarily to ignite enthusiasm in programming and computer science at schools.

Created over six years by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, of which Frontier boss and Develop columnist David Braben (pictured) is a prominent member, the computer is designed to be as open as possible, so as to a give students access to a fully fledged PC experience and, crucially, provide them with the opportunity to cut their teeth on creative computer programming.

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While the currently available 'Model B' Raspberry Pi, which sports a pair of USB ports and an Ethernet port, is available to purchase, they are yet to arrive from China, where they are being manufactured.