London lost a trademark tinkle this lunchtime, as Big Ben rang for the last time before undergoing a four year facelift.
One of this more unusual offshoots of the palaver surrounding the silencing of Big Ben took place live in front of the nation on ITV, where a small girl appeared on ITV's This Morning sofa to offer her own interpretation of the nation's favourite oversized timepiece:
Credit: ITV/This Morning
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The segment itself caused enough bemusement across social media, but This Morning producers caused themselves a major headache by posting the girl's address live to the whole of Britain without blurring it out.
Eight-year-old Pheobe had sent a letter to BBC Radio, putting herself forward as a replacement. She wrote: "Dear Radio 4, When Big Ben is not in action can I do the 'bong'? I have the right equipment, a gong, and I hum along with a microphone."
Unfortunately, when the letter was shown on screen, the young girl's full address was there, unpixelated, for the whole nation to see. Twitter responded as you'd expect:
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The show had given Phoebe a live audition on the sofa, with Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford watching on. "Bing Bong Bing Bong, Bing Bong Bing Bong," she chimed as her father sat beside her.
Twitter didn't know what to make of it all:
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The iconic London landmark - or at least, the Elizabeth Tower around it, as we've been so comprehensively and tediously told over the last few days that only the bell is actually called Big Ben - binged its last bong this midday for four whole years, as it undergoes renovation.
Credit: PA
The scheme is to cost £29m and has caused controversy in the House of Commons, where MPs debated whether it was actually necessary for the bell to go silent. It is seen as hazardous to those working on the renovations for the 13-tonne bell for the chimes to sound out every hour as they have done previously.
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Words: Mike Meehall Wood
Topics: This Morning
