Fireworks spectacular for New Year

A spectacular fireworks display at the London Eye will herald the New Year, Ken Livingstone announces today.

Around 50,000 revellers are expected to gather on the Victoria Embankment to watch the 10-minute show, which the Mayor claims will be seen all over London.

But opposition parties say the festivities should be on a grander scale to showcase the city's bid to host the 2012 Olympics, and to make up for four years of disappointing displays.

This year's event is being staged by Jack Morton Worldwide, the Londonbased firm responsible for the breathtaking opening and closing ceremonies at summer's Athens Olympics. Project director Jeremy Garbett said fireworks will be set off from barges on the Thames, while spotlights will be attached to the London Eye.

The Shell Centre will be a backdrop for an Olympic-themed projection. "It's a fun 10-minutes display, but it's not going to be a two to three-hour thing or pageant as such," he said.

Free all-night transport, sponsored by Fosters, will be provided on the Tube and buses, while outbound overground trains will also run through the night.

Screens in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square will allow people unable to gain access to the Embankment to watch the display.

Mr Livingstone, who is spending ?1.2 million on the festivities, said: "I want Londoners to celebrate New Year's Eve in any way they wish and be able to get home safely. The display will be seen by tens of thousands of Londoners around the viewing area and be visible in other parts of the

city." Like last year, he has played down expectations - warning spectators that they could be turned away if the Embankment gets too crowded.

The Mayor told the BBC: "It's only going to be about 10 minutes and it is equally easy to watch it on TV in the comfort of your own home with friends, or from one of the bars that will no doubt have the television on, or the screens we will have in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square. If you all crowd into one space you will eventually, once you get to 50,000 people, have to start turning people away."

But Angie Bray, Tory culture spokeswoman on the London Assembly, said: "For four years Ken Livingstone has proved a real party-pooper. How are we going to convince the International Olympic Committee we can organise an Olympics in London if we can't even manage a New Year's Eve party?"