A team of eight bell ringers met at St Mary’s Church, Calne, to send a message of celebration across the town on the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.

The ringers, who began at 9.30am on Saturday, rang a peal lasting three hours and 24 minutes, with the bells changing order 5,040 times.

The heaviest bell in the church tower weighs more than a ton and this was rung by Tom Collins, who travelled from Dorset and took charge of the peal.

Bell ringer Andrew Woolley, of North Road, Calne, also took part and said the biggest challenge was standing in the same place for three hours.

Mr Woolley, 53, who is a software programmer, said: “I personally found it very hard to walk afterwards. We went for a drink afterwards to rehydrate.

“We try and make sure everyone is aware we are going to ring, because we ring for such a long period. If we’re going to ring we try and make sure it’s something special that people can relate to.

“Nowadays we do it for major celebrations. This is the first peal since 2002 when we rang a peal for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. It was something which we thought we would like to celebrate.

“The coronation is a remarkable thing. There are a lot of people around who haven’t known any other monarch."