Bell ringers tune up for meeting

The bell ringers will visit an historic foundry in Loughborough

Hundreds of bell ringers from around the world are attending a conference in Leicester on Monday.

The annual conference of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers is being hosted by Leicester's Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers.

It aims to promote the ringing and proper maintenance of church bells.

People from as far away as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are representing some 40,000 bell ringers from around the world.

There are 700 bell ringers across six districts in Leicestershire.

The visiting bell ringers will tour Loughborough's Taylors Eayre & Smith Bellfoundry, which was founded in 1839.

The foundry cast the largest bell in the UK - the Great Paul at St Paul's Cathedral in London - in 1881.