WESTMINSTER came to a standstill yesterday as Big Ben bonged for the last time for four years.

There were bizarre scenes outside the Houses of Parliament as MPs and tourists gathered to listen to the bell one last time before the tower undergoes controversial renovations.

One Labour MP, Stephen Pound, even appeared to shed a tear at the silencing of the UK’s “chimes of freedom”.

SNP Shadow Leader of the House Pete Wishart called on Tory and Labour MPs to “get a grip”.

“The huge fuss consuming Westminster over Big Ben’s bongs is frankly bizarre, and Tory and Labour MPs obsessing over it really need to get a grip,” the MP said.

“After seven years of failed Tory government there are much bigger issues to get worked up about, like the damaging Tory austerity cuts that are hitting millions of families across the country. The fact that even the Prime Minister is wasting time on this non-issue shows just how out of touch the Westminster bubble is, when MPs should be working for their constituents on the issues that really matter.”

Hundreds of people watching from inside the parliamentary estate and outside its perimeter clapped and cheered as noon struck.

Pound said it was a “desperately sad” moment and that the decision showed a “real poverty of imagination”. The Ealing North MP reached for a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes as the bell tolled.

Pound conceded the backlash had become a little over the top.

Asked if he was partly responsible, he replied: “In my small way to contribute to the chimes of freedom ringing out, I put my hand up.

“In many ways I think we are in danger of losing something that we don’t actually realise and value enough at the moment.”

The 13.7-tonne Great Bell was last stopped for maintenance in 2007 and before that was halted for two years in 1983 for refurbishment, but has been stopped on a number of other occasions since it first sounded in 1859. Parliamentary officials have insisted workers’ hearing would be put at “serious risk” if the bell continued chiming.

They warned that those using the 100-metre-high scaffolding around the tower could also be startled by the 118-decibel bongs.

The House of Commons Commission – which is made up of MPs, officials, lay members, and chaired by Speaker John Bercow – will review the timescale for repairs when Parliament returns after the summer break.

A trio of Eurosceptic Tory MPs have called for Big Ben to bong Britain out of the EU on Brexit Day, expected on March 29 2019.

Plans are in place for the bell to chime on New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Day.