The chimes of Big Ben have been silenced for up to four years while maintenance work is carried out on the Elizabeth Tower.

The country’s most famous bongs rang out for the final time before work begins at 12pm on August 21 as people gathered in Westminster to hear the bell.

Online, the entirely unofficial @big_ben_clock normally tweets out a “bong” or string of “bongs” on the hour.

It joined its namesake in marking 12pm.

But as it grew closer to 1pm, the first time the real Big Ben would not chime, those behind the account teased what would happen next.

Only to eventually deliver the much cherished “bong”.

Big Ben first sounded in 1859 while @Big_Ben_Clock joined Twitter in 2009. It has 485,000 followers.