They read books, played jokes and ate ice-creams while they waited to see the Banksy exhibition on its enultimate day.

More than 10,000 visitors queued yesterday and on Saturday to see the show at Bristol Musuem.

They came up with ever-more novel ideas of whiling away the hours in the queue which has become as much a part of the Banksy experience as the exhibition itself.

As the queues reached a six-hour wait, patient visitors from all over the country – and possibly the world – came prepared with books, chairs and papers as they settled in for a long wait.

Helen Hewitt, spokeswoman for Bristol City Council, said: "There is a bit of excitement as the exhibition comes to an end.

"The queue has been really good natured. Staff have worked really hard and really gone the extra mile to make this a great experience for those visiting."

Katja Zvan Elliott, 30, and Derek Elliott, 30, both from London, had brought a collection of books to read.

Mr Elliott said: "We got here at 10am and I've read about 110 pages so far, so its helping to pass the time. We've just come up for the day, we've had exams and things on otherwise we would have come sooner but this is the last chance."

Ed Hutchinson, 26, a VAT consultant from Birmingham and Carrie Scott, 27, an art teacher, were also reading to pass the time.

Ms Scott said: "I'm thinking of perhaps doing an art project on Banksy when I get back to school so this is quite useful. We haven't come earlier because we were on holiday in Paris – we've gone from the Louvre to Banksy."

Eugene Toder, 26, a computer programmer from London, was solving puzzles on his laptop to help pass the time. He said: "I don't have enough battery to last three hours but it's keeping me busy. I'll have to find something else to do when it runs out."

Meanwhile local businessmen were keen to make the most of a captive audience.

Simon Ellis was selling artwork, including Banksy prints and books, from his usual stall in St Nicholas' Market.

He said: "I tried to get a mobile licence six weeks ago but haven't been able to until now. I've been here every day since Wednesday and business is steady.

"The best time is about 4.30pm when the museum shop closes and the exhibition closes and people want a souvenir – I get mobbed."

Michael Summers, who sells umbrellas, was one of the only people in the queues hoping for rain. He said he had given up going to the Reading Festival at the weekend for a chance to sell brollies in the queue in Bristol.

Stewards Evan Hadjkoumi and Kai Murphy were also keeping themselves entertained by pulling the legs of some of the people waiting.

Mr Hadjkoumi said: "When people got to the bit outside Browns we'd ask them how many people they wanted a table for. When they looked bemused we'd say they had been queuing to try out the new menu at the restaurant – a lot of people believed us."

Mr Murphy said: "We also keep the 'fishfinger diaries', when something goes wrong with a part of the exhibition it has to be sent off to be fixed and we had to keep a record of it.

"We ended up making notes about funny stories we had heard to anything that has happened that day. Stuff like rumours of seven people came from Hong Kong to visit.

"It has really become a scrapbook of the exhibition."