Londoners should be given early access to tickets for London's New Year's Eve fireworks for footing the bill, according to a London Assembly member.

Ealing and Hillingdon member Dr Onkar Sahota proposed a portion of the tickets be reserved for those who live in the capital after Mayor Boris Johnson admitted only 28% of Londoners secured a ticket, despite London taxpayers funding the event.

The 2015 fireworks sold 106, 428 tickets, with £2.3m of the cost being paid for by the city's taxpayers.

Dr Sahota said Londoners, who contribute significantly to the event, could end up missing out.

The Labour member said: "London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks are an iconic event and something the capital should be incredibly proud of.

"Given it is London taxpayers who stump up the cash to fund the fireworks, we really should give them a fair chance at getting tickets.

"It’s ridiculous that less than a third of tickets for last year’s sell-out event went to people who live in the capital despite massive demand."

He added: "Of course it benefits the capital to encourage tourism but it wouldn’t hurt the next Mayor to consider reserving a portion, say half, of the tickets for Londoners until a month or so before or at least for residents in the capital to get early access to tickets so they don’t miss out."

A spokesperson for Boris Johnson said: "Ticketing meant that for the first time, we could accurately record where people in the viewing areas came from and meant that Londoners with tickets were guaranteed a view of the display."

Ticketing for the event was introduced in 2014 in an attempt to control the crowds better.