Portrait gallery's midnight hours

Hundreds have flocked to see the David Hockney exhibition

The National Portrait Gallery is to keep its doors open until midnight for the first time to meet demand for its latest exhibition.

So far 113,000 people have visited the David Hockney Portraits collection since it opened in October.

Photography, oil, watercolour, pencil, crayon and tapestry were used to create the 150 portraits which are featured.

Art-lovers can visit the central London exhibition, which runs until 21 January, until midnight on Friday.

Last week the National Gallery, also in Trafalgar Square, announced that it would, for the first time, introduce a week of late-night opening to cope with unprecedented demand for its Velazquez exhibition.

More than 235,000 people have visited the display of 46 paintings by the Spanish master painter since it opened in October.