Blackpool Illuminations will be lit for an extra week in 2013 to extend the resort's tourist season, the town's council has announced.

BBC: Blackpool Illuminations

Three of Team GB's Olympic medallists are to turn on Blackpool Illuminations.

BBC: Olympic medallists to turn on Blackpool Illuminations

One described Blackpool's annual winter illuminations as "simply breathtaking".

BBC: Holidaymakers on the beach in Blackpool

Head of Merlin Entertainments Blackpool, Iain Hawkins, said extending the Illuminations "can only be a good thing".

BBC: Blackpool Illuminations

He said visitor figures in 2012 had shown that the Illuminations were "the single most important reason for visiting Blackpool during the autumn period spanning September to December".

BBC: Blackpool Illuminations