Paul McCartney's Christmas concert

Sir Paul McCartney is to play a one-off Christmas show in London.

The former Beatle will end a seven-date European tour, his first in five years, with a concert at The O2 arena on December 22.

The performance will be 46 years to the day since The Beatles played their first Christmas show at Liverpool's Empire Theatre and it will be McCartney's first arena show in London for over six years.

The 'Good Evening Europe' tour will kick off in Hamburg, Germany, the city where The Beatles played extensively before being signed.

He said: "This is my chance to bring our current show home to where it all began. Starting in Hamburg, ending in London and rocking everywhere in between. I'm very much looking forward to ending the year on a high."

McCartney, 67, has only played a handful of UK shows since his last tour in 2003, including a headline slot at the Glastonbury musical festival in 2004 and a performance at the European Capital of Culture show in Liverpool last year.

Other cities McCartney will be stopping at include Paris, Berlin, and Dublin.

Tickets for the concerts go on sale at 9am on Monday October 26. When he played in Las Vegas earlier this year, tickets sold out in seven seconds.