Bong! Big Ben to be heard over Christmas

BIG Ben’s bongs will return over Christmas, it emerged last night.

The bell – which fell silent in August for four years of repairs – will return between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House of Commons, said that as well as chiming over the festive season, the bell will also ring to mark Remembrance Sunday.

She said: ‘Some people might think this is a trivial matter – but over the course of the repairs, we have a duty to uphold the huge appeal of Big Ben to the millions of tourists that visit it each year.

‘I’m sure visitors to the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal would be incredibly disappointed if they were covered in scaffolding – the same is true of Elizabeth Tower. I’m delighted that we’ve made progress, and I will continue to press for the bell to ring again before 2021.’

A full assessment of the amount of bell chimes that can take place over the next four years of repairs is under review.

There was a public outcry when it emerged the bell would be stopped for the longest period in its 157-year history.

A month after the last bong, parliamentary officials said the repair costs for the Elizabeth Tower restoration had doubled to an estimated £61 million. The conservation project had been priced at £29 million in the spring of 2016.