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What a clanger! Jeremy Hunt narrowly avoids injuring spectators as bell flies off handle into crowd at Olympics celebrations

• Culture Secretary's bell breaks while welcoming in the start of the Games
• Admits he was ringing bell in a 'very excited way' before it flew off
• Thousands of people ring bells to herald the beginning of London 2012
• Big Ben chimes for three minutes from 8.12am... 12 hours before 20:12
• Boris Johnson among those 'mystified' by the bells performance
• Says excitement has passed form person to person 'like a benign virus'

When it comes to bells, nothing's been going right for Olympics organisers today.
There was confusion - even for over-excited Boris Johnson - this morning when Big Ben chimed at the bizarre time of 8.12am.
And as puzzled onlookers struggled to fathom the timing, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt almost took out spectators at another event when a bell he was ringing flew off its handle.
The farcical scenes unfolded as the capital prepared to begin the 'greatest show on earth' tonight by welcoming in the 2012 Olympics.
Ding-dong! Scroll down to watch the video

Careful! Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt rings his bell a little too enthusiastically this morning, sending the entire brass body of the instrument flying into the crowds

An Olympics official looks on as the bell flies towards her. Mr Hunt is unaware at this moment of the potential disaster his ringing could cause

Yikes! M Hunt grimaces as he realises that his bell has broken. Luckily, nobody was injured after the accident

The Culture Secretary was ringing his bell in his right hand on the deck of HMS Belfast when the brass became detached from its wooden handle and shot through the air above the deck of the Second World War cruiser.
He watched helplessly as the bell disappeared among a group of Olympics fans, his face betraying the fear and horror that a bystander maybe seriously hurt.
But fortunately the bell missed hitting anyone, with a clearly relieved Mr Hunt caught on a Sky News camera saying: 'Oh, oh dear! Are you all right? Health and safety! Are you OK? There we are, disaster averted.'
The Belfast is permanently moored on the Thames near London's Tower Bridge, with Mr Hunt aboard as part of the All the Bells celebration as people across the country rang bells to mark the start of the 2012 Games.

Health and safety! Mr Hunt, Secretary joins more than 300 bell ringers at the HMS Belfast today... before his accident

The Tory minister later made light of the near-miss, comparing it with a scene from the BBC comedy Twenty Twelve.
He wrote on Twitter: 'Oops bell broke taking part in Martin Creed's ringing in of the Games...no one hurt but classic #twentytwelve moment.'
Mr Hunt later told the BBC: 'I was ringing a bell in a very excited way and it collapsed in my hand and went flying off. I had my very own 2012 moment. It was a clanger.'

The first of today's celebration began with Big Ben chiming non stop for three minutes from 8.12am while hundreds of churches and people across the nation rang their bells to greet the official start of London 2012.
The hour bell of the landmark Palace of Westminster pealed 40 times over the following three minutes. Special permission had to be gained for the hour bell at the Palace of Westminster to be allowed to toll out of its regular sequence.
But the actual timing of the event baffled many, as well as the London Mayor, who could not understand why it was ringing at that particular minute and so far in advance.

London Mayor Boris Johnson was puzzled when the bells rang out at 8.12am for three minutes

THE BEST OF BORIS: MAYOR'S OLYMPIC QUOTES SO FAR

On the public's growing enthusiasm about the Olympics: 'A benign sort of virus passing from individual to individual'.
On describing his role in the opening ceremony: 'Just part of the politburo sitting there on the platform looking out rapturously'.
On the growing excitement about the Games: 'The Geiger counter of Olympomania is quivering towards the red zone...'
On the Opening Ceremony: ' I think people are going to well up with hot tears of patriotic pride when they see this'.

On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, presenter James Naughtie explained the idea, before revealing that the excitable Mr Johnson was just learning about it too.
He said: 'It is being rung at 8.12am because it's 12 hours until the 24 hour clock will reach 2012.
'Slightly complicated but you get the point. That was Boris Johnson on the phone, who obviously didn't know that coming on the line.'
To which Mr Johnson said: 'Yes, I was a bit mystified about that.'
Many have questioned why the bells are being rung 12 hours before the clock reaches 20:12, and not just wait until tonight.
Twitter users posted their confusion about their idea, saying the timing made no sense.
Shelley Taylor Tweeted: 'Why were the bells at 8:12am? That makes absolutely no sense with the 24 hour clock if they were going for 20:12.'
Another, called Johny Cassidy, posted: 'Would it not make more sense to ring Big Ben at 20:12 tonight?'
The celebrations are believed to be the first time that the strike of Big Ben has been rung outside its normal schedule since February 15 1952, when it tolled every minute for 56 strokes for the funeral of King George VI.
The bells at the National Assembly for Wales, Stormont in Northern Ireland and the Scottish Parliament also rang so that all four Parliaments chimed in unison at 8.12am, Olympics chiefs said.

Town Crier John Melody at Southampton Civic Centre gets into the London 2012 spirit by ringing his bell

Ring in the Games! Royal Navy communications rating Sophie Pickford, rings RFA Mount Bay's ship bell in Portland Harbour as part of the national All the Bells event to celebrate the start of the London 2012 Olympics

The cacophony of sound is for the All The Bells event, the brainchild of Turner Prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed who is encouraging everyone in the UK to ring a bell.
The piece of conceptual art, which has the official title Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes, was devised as part of the London 2012 Festival.