SINGAPORE - Lights, laser and fire displays lit up the night sky at the stroke of midnight as revellers at the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown welcomed the new year.

The countdown, organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, is Singapore's largest New Year's Eve party.

There are no official figures yet, but organisers expected more than 300,000 people to join in the event.

The celebrations were extended to the Civic District for the first time to make space for the activities.

Roads in the city centre began to close from 4pm onwards, while St Andrew's Road and Connaught Drive were converted to pedestrianised streets.

The heavy presence of police and auxiliary police officers did little to dampen the mood of revellers, who pointed cameras at the fireworks or looked at their watches as 2017 approached.

The crowd began to pick up at around 7pm, with eager photographers and family groups reserving the most ideal spots at the Esplanade, The Promontory@Marina Bay and the Marina Bay Sands boardwalk ahead of time.

Four firework displays - at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm and 11pm - entertained the early birds.

Then at 11.54pm, the crowd turned to the sky again for a final eight-minute fireworks display, which was the largest of the night and choreographed to music by local artists.

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Said Mr Jonathan Yew, 54, who attended the countdown with his family of four: "This is a yearly tradition for us to put the old year behind and welcome the new.

"2016 has been a happening year for many and you can see that everyone here is looking forward to a new start in 2017."