BELLS will be rung across York as part of a national world-record chiming attempt to herald the start of the London 2012 Olympics.

At 8.12am tomorrow – exactly 12 hours before the Olympic Park spectacular at 8:12pm – bells will be rung around the UK as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes.

All The Bells was the idea of Turner prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed, and will involve everything from church bells, school bells, bicycle bells, door bells and cow bells in an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of bells rung simultaneously.

London’s iconic Big Ben will lead the crescendo of the piece “Work No. 1197” when it strikes more than 40 times. In York, volunteers at the National Railway Museum will chime a 40-strong selection of hand-held bells from the museum’s collection.

Joe Savage, the museum’s interpretation manager, said: “We are all really excited about being part of this national project and relish the opportunity to bring objects from our collection back into use.”