HC Deb 25 October 1990 vol 178 cc267-8W
Mr. Fishburn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the work carried out in the current year to the great clock.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

As my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Chope) announced on 22 March at column683, the hour strike had to be taken out of action to allow essential repair work to be carried out. The chime was restored on 28 August.

The hon. Member will no doubt have noticed that the tone of the chime is lower than it was before the work started. This is mainly because the bearings which are new need time to settle in and new rubber buffers have been installed. However, a check with the archives has confirmed that the tone is identical to a recording made after similar work was carried out in 1956.