Robert Pattinson attends Twilight premiere in London

Twilight, the high school vampire romp that has catapaulted its British star Robert Pattinson (pictured) into Hollywood's major league, received its London premiere last night. As expected, the film, which has made a fortune at the US box office in its first two weeks, attracted thousands of screaming teenage girls who braved the freezing cold to catch a glimpse of Pattinson, 22, and his co-star Kristen Stewart, 18. In a novel twist, in keeping with the film's subject, they walked down a black carpet blasted with dry ice.

The film is based on Stephanie Meyer's series of novels about high school girl Bella Swann (played by Stewart) and her love affair wit Pattinson's vampire Edward Cullen. Pattinson, who appeared in a number of the Harry Potter films as Cedric Diggery, played down his new won fame, mainly among female movie-goers. "It's absolutely mad. I'm in a daze," he said, adding: "They're here for the character, not for me. I don't know what to do."