London gears up for one of the busiest nights of the year

Tickets for the New Year's Eve fireworks display at the London Eye have been sold out three weeks ahead of the event, which will enable 100,000 revellers to access prime ticketed viewing areas alongside the River Thames.

Organisers are advising people without tickets to avoid the Embankment and Southbank areas unless they have already booked their place at alternative celebrations in the vicinity. Non-ticketholders can also watch the display live and uninterrupted on BBC One.

Since first being staged at the London Eye on the South Bank in 2003, the numbers of people heading to see the acclaimed pyrotechnic and lighting display have mushroomed from an estimated 100,000 people in its first year to an estimated 500,000 last year (2013). Last year around half a million people are estimated to have headed to see the display, putting enormous strain on transport and ability of the emergency services to move around.

Thus ticketing has been introduced in a bid to manage crowd numbers and ensure the display's longer term sustainability as a safe and enjoyable event.