Mariah mania hits London

She arrived in a street lit up with Christmas decorations. But as Mariah Carey met fans at a record signing in London yesterday they could have been forgiven for thinking she was heading for a summer garden party.

The singer brought Oxford Street to a standstill when she arrived at the HMV store to sign copies of her latest album, The Emancipation of Mimi.

Although the hundreds of fans lining the street were wrapped up warm, Miss Carey stepped out of a black cab wearing a distinctly unwintery outfit. She discarded her cream cropped duffel jacket to reveal a tight short-sleeved T-shirt complete with a tight denim miniskirt and knee-length boots.

In an improvement on her appearance at a British awards ceremony earlier this year when she kept fans waiting for 90 minutes because she had broken her fingernail, this time Miss Carey was only 30 minutes late.

It was a wait her fans were happy to endure in the bitter cold to catch a glimpse of their idol.

One onlooker said the crowd were whipped into a frenzy. 'It was just madness, there were no barriersin place and suddenly the crowd which had been waiting patiently began to push forward,' he said.

'There were just police officers there and they were struggling to keep the fans back.'

Miss Carey, 35, is known for her high-maintenance demands.

Earlier this year she asked for a red carpet lit up by large white candles to mark her arrival at Baglioni Hotel in Kensington, West London.

But this time there was no thick carpet - just glitter sprinkled over the entrance of the record shop.