Women raced each other across the floors of hundreds of Boots stores and a near riot broke out in Yorkshire as the desire to stop the signs of ageing reached a frenzy this week.

Cosmetics that promise to banish wrinkles and repair skin damaged by the sun are often dismissed by dermatologists as overpriced moisturisers.

But when scientists from the University of Manchester tested the effectiveness of cosmetic antiageing products they were astonished to find that one actually worked. Even more surprising was the price tag of the winning formula: a mere £16.75 and available from Boots.

Women needed no encouragement when the No 7 Protect & Perfect Serum was featured on a BBC Horizon programme on Tuesday.

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All Boots stores sold out of the cream on Wednesday. Since then, women have jostled with one another to reach the few restocked shelves.

Ian Filby, beauty director at Boots, said: “The sales of Protect & Perfect have exceeded all our expectations. Our people have been working around the clock to ensure 20 weeks’ worth of stock is delivered for the weekend.

“A store in Yorkshire reported that there was a near riot when one women bought the entire store’s stock. We are expecting even more great sales.”

On eBay last night the cream was selling for twice the official price. Faced with a 2,000 per cent rise in sales, a virtually instant sell-out on the Boots web-site and news that 13 bottles were being bought each minute, the Boots customer-care team struggled to cope.

In the past two days, the phone line has received hundreds of calls. Some branches have been forced to draw up waiting lists, which are running into three figures.

WhenThe Times tried to buy the cream in Central London, only one branch had any left. Within 20 minutes, all the pots had gone.

Claudia Carmona, a No 7 sales assistant, said: “We’ve got a waiting list and pretty much everyone on it has ordered three. It’s always been a popular treatment but nothing like this before.”

The team responsible for the sudden popularity of Protect & Perfect said that they had spent ten months testing a variety of antiageing products, many of them far more expensive.

Professor Chris Griffiths, an eminent dermatologist, did not believe that any over-the-coun-ter cream could match the effectiveness of retinoic acid or Tretinoin, a prescription drug used to treat severe sun damage of the skin.

“We were surprised that the Boots cream stimulated the production of fibrillin [a protein associated with the creation of elastin and collagen, the skin’s equivalent of the springs found in a mattress],” he said.

The cream contains silicone, antioxidants and lipo-pentapep-tide, created from amino acids grown in laboratories. Also in the mix is an extract from the white lupin flower which, it is suggested, slows down the production of collagenase, which is created by sun damage.

Professor Griffiths has begun a second trial into the long-term benefit of the Boots product. The results are due in early autumn.

Take your pick

RéVive Peau Magnifique
(200ml) — £1,050
A four-week cream treatment created by plastic surgeons in US; claims to reset skin’s ageing clock and reduce wrinkles by 45 per cent

ReNutriv by Estée Lauder
(50ml) — £550
Claims to be a new beginning for skin using rare minerals found deep underwater

Cellular Radiance by La Prairie
(50ml) — £345
Containing 24-carat gold concentrate; promises “preternatural radiance”

Lifting Face Serum by Crãme de la Mer
(30ml) — £165
Claims to prevent premature breakdown of skin and restore its youthful smoothness

Olay Antiwrinkle Day Cream
(50ml) — £16.50
Contains light diffusers that claim to soften look of fine lines and wrinkles

Nivea Visage antiwrinkle Q10 Repair Night Cream
(50ml) — £6.49
Claims to activate skin’s metabolism which improves skin’s ability to fight new and existing wrinkles

L’Oréal Dermo Expertise Wrinkle Decrease
(50ml) — £7.49
Claims to “visibly rejuvenate facial expressions using a unique phyto complex”

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