Hundreds of passengers were stranded on the London Eye for over an hour on Monday while repairs were carried out.

Workers decided to remove one of the mechanical wheels which was not operating properly, but the fault ended up taking much longer than normal to repair.

Passengers trapped up in the capsules were instructed to break out emergency supplies of blankets and water stored inside the central seat of each capsule.

"Removing the tyre took longer than we had thought - but there was no danger of anyone being stranded for a much longer time," an Eye spokeswoman told The Sun.

The capital's most visited attraction the London Eye is on the hunt for a new sponsor after British Airways announced it was to end its seven-year partnership deal with the giant wheel earlier this year.

The 135m (440ft) high Ferris wheel - London's fourth tallest structure - was built as one of the capital's two big monuments to mark the year 2000.

The London Eye has become the most popular paid visitor attraction in the UK, visited by over 3.5 million people a year.