Big Ben stops time for a spring clean

Cleaning one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world has proven to be a spectacle in itself.

A specialist technical abseil team clean and inspect one of the four faces of the Great Clock, otherwise known as Big Ben. (AAP)

Four abseilers scaled the clockface of Big Ben, to give it its annual clean this week.

While the bell continued to chime, the clock hands were frozen at 12:00 and expected to take the team almost a day to clean each of the clock's four faces.

The tower that stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster was renamed Elizabeth Tower after the Queen to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. Big Ben is actually the bell, but many know the landmark by this name.

A specialist technical abseil team clean and inspect one of the four faces of the Great Clock, otherwise known as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament, in central London, as they undertake essential maintenance and cleaning of the four faces.