King Tut fever hits London

King Tut fever has hit London with advance ticket sales for the upcoming Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 arena already topping 325,000.

Artefacts from the tomb of King Tutankhamun go on display in the capital later this month for the first time in three decades.

There will be 130 objects on show, including up to 50 from the boy king's tomb.

Mark Lach, the exhibition's designer, said: "Sales from the tour are already benefiting ongoing conservation work in Egypt and will ensure that the legacy of Tutankhamun continues to be enjoyed. His popularity is evident by the number of tickets sold and reserved for the UK exhibition even before it opens - 325,000 tickets is a tour record."

The ticket sales figure reveals the exhibition, which opens on 15 November, as a serious rival to the Chinese Terracotta Army that is currently breaking visitor records at the British Museum.

Up to two million people are expected to pass through the turnstiles by the time Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs closes next August.

Most days up until Christmas are sold out.

The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army notched up 360,000 ticket sales within six weeks of opening and the museum threw open its doors into the evenings to cope.

Interest in the exhibition is set to be boosted further after the face of Egypt's most famous ruler was put on public display for the first time.

British explorer Howard Carter found his mummified body on 4 November 1922 - and 85 years to the day, archaeologists placed it in a climate-controlled case inside his tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings.

Until yesterday only about 50 living people had seen the face of the boy king, who died more than 3,000 years ago.

Scores of crates containing treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun have already been unpacked.

The antiquities were last shown in Britain at the British Museum 35 years ago when 1.7 million saw them.

Among the objects from the tomb going on show are a small gold coffin that once held the young king's embalmed liver, his gold crown and his knife. Other objects from royal graves in the Valley of the Kings will feature alongside.

Unfortunately the star item from the treasures' previous visit - the 19-year-old pharaoh's gold death mask - was too fragile to travel.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will attend a ceremonial opening of the exhibition on 13 November.