Beaten: England fans react during last night's 2012 match in the fan zone in Warsaw, Poland

The shootout last night was watched by more than 23 million people - the highest peak TV audience for eight years.

Overnight viewing figures showed the BBC1 coverage of the Euro 2012 quarter-final hit its height at 10.20pm with 23.2 million watching the deciding shoot-out.

An average audience of 17.4 million watched the coverage, with its extra-time and penalty climax - the highest audience of the tournament so far.

The match, which saw England packed off home, drew three-quarters of all TV viewers during England’s penalty agony.

It is the highest peak on any UK channel for eight years, since Euro 2004’s England v Portugal match - a game which similarly saw hopes dashed on penalties.

England’s previous match in Euro 2012 - a 1-0 victory over Ukraine last week - drew a 16.1 million average audience.

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