Several thousand people are already lining vantage points in Courtenay Place as excitement mounts for today’s world premiere of the final part in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Inspector Phil Gubb, Wellington Police operations manager, says 3000 to 4000 people were by late morning gathering at key viewing spots.
"It’s a good natured crowd and we’ve had no real problems apart from asking people to get off bus stop roof tops," he says. "Numbers are building all the time but at this stage the crowd is mainly young women."
Police are appealing for motorists to leave their cars at home today and use public transport as the final roadblocks go in for this afternoon’s street parade and tonight’s premiere.