DOZENS of shoppers have gone home empty-handed after copies of the single We Laughed sold out within hours.

Just 14 copies of the single were available to buy in two Weymouth shops.

The song, which features Billy Bragg, was written by cancer patient Maxine Edgington, from Portland, for her daughter Jessica.

We Laughed soon became the most requested song on Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show before being released as a CD single on October 31.

MVC in New Bond Street sold all its eight copies of the single on the first day of release.

The Weymouth branch of Woolworths also sold all its six copies of the single on the same day.

Marc Williamson, spokesman for Weymouth MVC, said: "There has been a huge demand and the response has been immense."

He said the distributors had not realised the background to the single and were now set to dispatch around 50 further copies.

He also estimated the store could have sold around 30 copies of the single on Monday alone.

At Woolworth the story was the same and spokesman Kirsty Blackburn said the store had already put an order in for more copies.

The CD features another two tracks which were written as part of the Rosetta Life workshop at the Trimar Hospice in Weymouth.

Mrs Edgington was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer last November and became involved with the music workshops while visiting the hospice.

We Laughed, which is also available to download from the internet, can be ordered in CD format online through Amazon or even on internet auction site Ebay.

However, allowing for delivery time it may not arrive until the weekend.

One disappointed customer, Jackie Rist, from Weymouth, said: "I was really looking forward to getting a copy of the CD on Monday because it is such a moving song.

"How is it going to do well in the charts and raise lots of money for the hospice if nowhere in the area is selling it?

"I'll just have to wait for more to arrive."

MVC and Woolworth hope to have more copies within the next few days.