Beleaguered parents hunting down a must-have games console for this Christmas are being told to keep on hassling their local games retailer - and keep their fingers crossed.

A worldwide shortage of the slimline Sony PlayStation 2 has been aggravated by company's own 'Suez crisis' - caused when a Russian oil tanker ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal last month.

Among the ships queueing up behind it was one carrying many of the PS2s due to be sold in Europe this month.

The Japanese electronics giant has hired Russian Antonov An-24 cargo planes to airlift PS2 supplies direct from China to Europe to relieve the shortage, but supplies have all but dried up in UK stores and the country's biggest retailers have stopped taking pre-orders for the devices.

Instead, customers are being told they will have to rely on luck. "Keep in touch with your local store," said Simon Soffe, spokesman for Game Group Plc, Britain's biggest games retailer. "There is every chance you may get lucky, but it's not a definite."

Priced at £104.99, the slimline PS2 is less than half the size and half the weight of its predecessor. Sales of the console are also supported by the release of some of this year's hottest games, including the top-selling Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

According to Dorian Bloch, a director at Chart Track, which monitors sales of entertainment software and hardware, sales of the new PS2 in the last three weeks of November were down sixfold from the same period last year. Supplies have picked up since then, but remain haphazard.

"The demand is huge. It certainly should be biggest selling console hardware format this Christmas if there are enough of them in the supply chain," Mr Bloch said.

"Assuming there are enough PS2s in the marketplace then it's going to sell a hell of a lot over the next few weeks.. It could quite easily do 300,000 units by the end of the year."

Kelly Evans, a spokeswoman for Dixons, added: "They are the proverbial hotcakes. We get in some stocks, put them on the shelves and watch them fly off." Amazon UK does not expect to have any of the consoles until next year.

Industry experts said that Sony could still just about rescue sales over the Christmas period if it managed to get enough stock through to stores, largely because many shoppers are leaving their Christmas purchases later every year.

Jonathan Fargher, PR manager for Sony UK's computer entertainment division, said today that stock was beginning to get through to retailers and customers "shouldn't have any problems getting a machine for this Christmas".

He said that Sony was working hard to make sure that PS2s arriving in the country were pushed through on to the shelves as quickly as possible.

One solution for the parent with a PS2 problem is to turn to auction site eBay, where one console sold today for £175 after attracting 25 bids. Others sold last week for more than £200, suggesting that supplies might be easing. "Unfortunately, we can't do anything about what people do on eBay. We haven't got any control over that," Mr Fargher said.