Thousands of eager Bieber fans swamp Westfield malls

Bosses at London's two Westfield shopping centres today urged Justin Bieber fans to stay away after thousands arrived to get a glimpse of the pop star.

Bieber, 17, was switching on the Christmas lights and performing at the Shepherd's Bush mall tonight before moving on to the Stratford store to do the same in front of a crowd of 2,000.

Die-hard fans, known as Beliebers, began turning up from the early hours to try to get their hands on priority wristbands which went within minutes.

But by 9am Westfield had to take to Twitter to advise people to stay away because fans were still turning up and they had reached "full capacity".

Some youngsters claimed they were told no one would be allowed to camp out overnight in the queue only to arrive and find they were too late.

Westfield had initially said overnight camping was not allowed but issued a statement on its Facebook page at 11pm last night saying they were changing the rules "due to the unexpected high demand" for wristbands.

Allegations that Bieber has fathered a child with a 20-year-old fan had apparently done little to discourage his loyal followers. Fan Tanisha Roslynn Beebee said: "We got here at 2am and we didn't get tickets. Never been so upset."

Only 1,000 fans were being allowed in the general viewing area in the atrium in Shepherd's Bush.

After switching on the lights in west London the singer was being taken by helicopter to Westfield Stratford City.

Bieber, speaking at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast last night, described as "crap" claims by Mariah Yeater that he had fathered her four-month-old son backstage at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles last year. Bieber was joined by his actress girlfriend Selena Gomez, 19, as he won two prizes at the awards.

After collecting his trophy for best pop act, he said: "There's been a lot of crap talked about me on the internet lately, but I've pulled through."

Lady Gaga stole the show at the awards by wearing a golden mask over her face and a giant circular silver dress that made her look like a satellite.

But two audience members were unimpressed by her antics. Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen found their view blocked as they took their seats behind Lady Gaga at the start of the show.

The pair were visibly irate and gesticulated to the singer, in the VIP area at the Odyssey Arena.
Gaga won four awards and gave a performance of Marry The Night while perched on top of a moon on the stage. Taylor and May ended the show with a Queen medley featuring American Idol winner Adam Lambert.