Big Ben's chimes ring out again

The clock was stopped for 20 hours

The chimes of Big Ben have been ringing out again as the clock was restarted after a weekend of engineering work.

The St Stephen's Tower bell and clock, at Westminster Palace, was stopped after the 0800 BST chimes on Saturday - the longest stoppage in 22 years.

In 1983 the clock was stopped for longer when its hands were removed for new gilding to be applied.

This weekend specialist engineers carried out a thorough internal inspection of the famous clock.

While the clock was stopped, engineers from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry replaced rubber hammer buffers on the hour bell and three of the four quarter bells.

Extreme heat and snow have caused short unplanned stoppages of the Great Clock.

The last time this happened was in May this year, when engineers said high temperatures of 32C (90F) could have contributed to the clock failing for an hour-and-a-half.