The reason behind this error?
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Big Ben has become “temperamental” and can be off by off by up to six seconds because it is so old, Parliament’s clocksmiths have admitted.
He said it was unclear how the error had occurred but, given Big Ben’s ages, “it does have a little fit every now and then”.
Experts say they don’t know why the chimes have started to ring fast, but compared looking after the clock to “running a auto for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the last 156 years”. High standards were set for the clock created by astronomer Royal Sir George Airy, who stated that the “the first stroke of each hour to be accurate to within one second”. Not even Big Ben’s dedicated clocksmiths.
Over the past two weeks, the early bongs have messed up BBC domestic and world radio transmissions that broadcast the hour chimes live.
He added: “Traditionally we have to go up three times a week to wind the clock”.
“You can not just wind the hands forward”.
Adding or removing each penny to the pendulum of the venerable bell varies the rate of its swing and changes the clock speed by 0.4 seconds per day.
Westworth said he and his team had been up to the clock “most days” since they learned of the problem, trying to put it right.
In fact, Westworth revealed, the work to bring the clock back on time encouraged Big Ben to correct itself, causing it to run slow.
Steve Jaggs, the keeper of the clock, told the programme: “We carry out regular checks because this is a mechanical cost”.
Big Ben’s clock tower is cleaned by abseilers in 2014.
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A report from the commission, a group of MPs chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow, found the tower is tilting 18in from a vertical stance.
