Live8 tickets boost

An extra 55,000 people will be able to watch the Live8 concert in Hyde Park - making it the biggest official live music event in British history.

Bob Geldof has struck a deal with the Royal Parks to release a new batch of tickets for the event on Saturday, allowing fans to watch the concert in the open air on huge screens erected near the Serpentine lake.

More than two million people applied by text lottery for the initial 150,000 places, but 205,000 will now be able to descend on Hyde Park to see a star-studded line-up including U2, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Coldplay, Annie Lennox, Joss Stone, Ms Dynamite, The Who and Razorlight.

The new free tickets will be available from 3pm on Wednesday. The event will also go on until later than originally planned, finishing at 9.30pm instead of 8pm.

Geldof said: "This is going to be the biggest event in Hyde Park's history and the biggest ticketed event ever in the UK. The park will be filled to the brim.

"In other cities around the country and around the world millions of people will be joining in to make poverty history. It will be one of those defining moments that come around once in a generation." It comes just days after police chiefs outlawed Geldof 's plans to allow an extra 100,000 unticketed people into Hyde Park to watch the action on giant screens.

They said the idea was "unworkableî but last-ditch talks resulted in the new plan to let in 55,000 more ticketed guests.

A spokesman said: "Live8 and the authorities were initially concerned about massive crowds turning up at unticketed screens in the park but the solution, where pairs of tickets will be handed out free of charge at selected venues in the capital and around the UK, has put everybody's minds at rest."

Organisers are however warning of potential chaos on Saturday.

A spokesman added: "Ticket holders for Hyde Park could take an hour to get into the park and through the queuing system. With the event due to run for more than seven hours it will be a long day and people are being advised to prepare accordingly."

Giant screens broadcasting the event will also be erected in Liverpool, Manchester, Inverness, Leeds, Cardiff, Newcastle and Bournemouth.