TIME stood still at Bolton Parish Church this week when the clock had to be stopped.

On Sunday, as the clock struck midnight there was the usual peal of eight bells -- followed by another and another.

In fact, the bells did not stop ringing for 20 minutes until Canon Michael Williams and his son had to stop them.

Canon Williams, who has been at the church for more than two years, said: "It just carried on chiming and chiming until finally we had to climb up the belfry to try and find how to turn it off."

The church was built in 1871, after replacing the previous church which became too decayed to repair in 1864. But now the clock of the church tower has not got its original mechanisms and is electric.

Canon Williams did not know how it worked so he had to disturb the Parish administrator, who got out of bed and explained which wire to disconnect. This, while the canon was on a mobile phone up the belfry.

He said: "It was an experience, but I am missing the clock and the bells chiming, it feels strange not to have them."

The Rev Williams hopes that it will be fixed soon and the hands of time will move again.

This is not the first time the Parish church has been stuck in time. In 1987 they had to fork out £600 at a stroke, to replace a gear box which drives the hands. And by coincidence that also happened at 12 o'clock.

Another occasion the clock stopped -- but not the bells -- was last year on September 11, the day of the terrorist attacks in New York.