Britain's Big Ben silent for the month

LONDON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Maintenance and cleaning on Britain’s Big Ben will cause London’s main clock to go "bong"-less for around a month.

The maintenance work on the clock will mean that until September there will be no hourly “bongs” or quarter bells, the BBC reported.

The clock itself will continue to run, but will have to be stopped for a few hours while an alternative system is installed to keep it working while the work on the bells is going on.

Big Ben shuts down for work every five years, but this year’s maintenance is special because of the clock’s 150th anniversary taking place in 2009.

Workers will completely replace the bell’s bearings as well as the "going train" which controls the clock itself.