Elena Herrero: Big Ben is the new Pisa

Have you heard the news? Well, it´s true. Big Ben, one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England, is tilting, and it´s now visible to the naked eye.

Experts think that the situation is getting worse. The tower is sinking more quickly on the north side of the Palace of Westminster. The tilt has increased by about a centimetre a year since 2003, and the top is now just under half a metre off the perpendicular, which means that it would take another 4,000 years or so for it to match the angle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which leans by about four degrees.

The problem apparently has been caused by the construction around the foot of the tower of a tube line and an undeground park in the 1970s. But the worse thing is that the leaning clock tower is already causing cracks in the walls of other parts of the House of Commons.

It’s time to take another trip to London, isn´t it?

Thanks a lot Elena, you're indeed our architectural correspondent!

Now, I'm sure you would like to watch this short ITN report on the news I've found on YouTube. I guess the authorities in Pisa are now seriously concerned and wondering if tourists will all of a sudden start travelling to London instead, looking for that coveted picture of themselves apparently holding up a tilting tower!