With thousands of families expected to flock to Durham this week to welcome the return of Lumiere, the council has issued travel advice and urges people to plan their journeys well in advance.

The biennial light festival will open for a four-night run from Thursday, with 40 attractions spread across the city centre and extending to Bishop Auckland for the first time. In the run-up to the launch night, access to Durham’s peninsula and some other areas of the city will be limited due to a number of road and footpath closures.

And others are expected to see extra-heavy traffic when the free event then gets under way. Lumiere is always hugely popular so there will be pressure on the city car parks but there are some travel tips being issued to visitors to make life as easy as possible.

• Read more: Full guide to Lumiere
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Durham County Council, which commissions Lumiere from leading art producer Artichoke, is advising visitors to use the city's park-and-ride services which are extended throughout the festival. It says that, as well as running from existing sites at Belmont, Howlands and Sniperley in Durham, two extra services will run from New College, just outside Durham, and Annand House in Meadowfield.

These will provide almost 3,000 extra spaces. Regular services will run to and from each site into the city centre until 11.30pm each night of the festival, while the park-and-ride car parks will remain open around the clock.

Return tickets will cost £2 or are free for concessionary pass-holders as well as for under-16s accompanied by an adult. To help encourage more use of public transport, new saver bus tickets are available too.

Adult day tickets, offering unlimited bus travel in County Durham, can be bought for £4. Anyone aged 21 and under can buy a day ticket for £3 or a single journey for just £1.

A new regionwide day saver ticket also has been launched which, for £6.80, allows unlimited bus travel across Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Northumberland and can be used on the Metro and Shields Ferry too.

Visitors planning to use public transport are advised to check with bus operators in advance. An update on the GoNorth East industrial action is available on the bus company's website here.

Some services and routes are changing too, with the northbound bus stop on Church Street, immediately north of the New Inn traffic signals, being suspended, says the council. Temporary bus stops will be in place on the A690 across the - closed - junction with Walkergate; on the A177 South Road southbound opposite Bow School, and on the A177 South Road northbound, north of the access to Teaching and Learning Centre.

To offer more options for taxi users, an additional rank will be in operation in Durham, on the concourse of the new bus station which is currently under construction. Coun John Shuttleworth, the council’s cabinet member for rural communities and highways, said: “It is important that festival-goers plan their travel arrangements in advance as we are expecting large numbers of visitors during Lumiere.

“We would also advise anyone travelling through Durham city to view the scheduled road closures and travel changes and consider how these, alongside increased traffic, may affect their journey.” Any live updates will be available on the council's social channels.

For a full list of park-and-ride sites, road and footpath closures, changes to parking bays and other information see here.

The festival itself is free, although those wanting to visit the city centre heart of the action - around the market place as well as the peninsula area - between the peak hours of 4.30pm and 7.30pm will need to book a (free-of-charge) ticket. Most slots are booked up - check here for remaining availability.