Josh Miller/CNET

Google's latest smartphone, the Nexus 4, is sold out in the U.K., less than an hour after it went on sale.

The 4.7-inch Android device went on sale in the U.K. on Tuesday, alongside Google's two latest tablets, the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 -- and it looks like the devices are proving popular. According to reports on Twitter, some customers found that stocks of lowest priced Nexus 4, the 8GB version, had been snapped up within a mere 15 minutes of going on sale.

Reportedly the Nexus 4 is out, a day earlier than expected, but Google Play UK store is currently showing 'Coming Soon', sold out so soon? — Bob Hannent (@bobdvb) November 13, 2012

As consumers headed to the Google Play store to order their devices this morning, the online shop appears to be struggling to cope with demand. Some would-be buyers have taken to Twitter to complain that Google Play is slow, unresponsive, throwing up errors or that, by the time they've navigated the problems with the site, the entire stock of the product they went there to buy is sold out.

Google Play store is a joke - puts 2 nexus 4 in basket, then none, then sold out. — Tomas Lin (@tomaslin) November 13, 2012

At the time of writing, Google Play appears to be showing the 8GB and 16GB versions of the Nexus 4 as out of stock with a "Notify me!" button appearing instead of a purchase option. Similarly, the 32GB Nexus 10 is also out of stock, although the 16GB is still available.

However, all models of the Nexus 7 (16GB, 32GB Wi+Fi, 32GB + HSPA+) are still in stock, and show a 3-5 business day shipping estimate.