All 32 passenger pods on the delay-hit Millennium Wheel will have to be modified before it is safe to run, tests have revealed.

The £35m British Airways London Eye missed what was intended as its opening night - New Year's Eve - after the Health and Safety Executive said it could not run due to a clutch problem.

Now further tests have shown that because of a production fault, clutches on all the ride's passenger-carrying capsules will have to be replaced.

British Airways said the job should be completed by next week and would not affect the 450ft wheel's revised opening for fee-paying customers on 1 February.

"There is no problem with the design of the clutch. This has been a manufacturing fault," said a BA spokeswoman.

"We are hoping to operate preview rides this month, ahead of the February 1 opening date."

BA had planned to take competition-winning guests on a ride on New Year's Eve following the official opening of the wheel by Tony Blair.

Opening setback

But the problem with the German-built clutches led the Health and Safety Executive to rule against the start of operations.

Instead, guests were given a champagne dinner and free BA flights.

They will also be given the chance to ride on the wheel when it opens.

British and German engineers have been investigating the problem since the New Year to see if it was confined to one capsule or all 32.

The 2,100-tonne wheel is next to the old County Hall building across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament.

BA had hoped to start admission-paying rides in the third week of January. But this date was put back to 1 February after the HSE ruling.

The airline hopes to carry 2.5 million passengers on the wheel in its first 12 months, although independent research indicates that this figure could reach four million.