Tower of London to ignore calls by the Prime Minister to extend poppy display

The Tower of London looks set to ignore calls led by the Prime Minister to extend the extraordinary display of ceramic poppies.

A spokeswoman for the Tower told ITV News:

The art installation made up of 888,246 poppies in the moat is due to be dismantled on November 12th.

The display has generated huge queues, with an estimated four million people expected to have visited the Tower by Armistice Day.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg became the latest high profile politician to demand more time for visitors to see the poppies.

London mayor Boris Johnson is said to be in talks with the Tower about extending the display for a further week.

And a spokesman for the Prime Minister said:

But the Tower of London insisted today the poppies would start disappearing next Wednesday.

The spokeswoman denied the timing was influenced by corporate hospitality events which are due to take place in the moat before Christmas.