ROMSEY is bucking the national trend as the town's love affair with church bells pushes on.

As the country falls ever silent with the art of bell ringing dying out, residents in the town continue to want to take up the practice.

Tower Captain of Romsey Abbey, Alistair Brown, has said that an influx of people have come forward wanting to train and take part in ringing the iconic bells.

At the turn of the New Year, the Romsey Abbey bells fell silent with those trained to ring them busy elsewhere, and not enough registered people able to fill the void.

Now, Alistair is even having to warn members of the public that practice is going to begin earlier to accommodate those wanting to learn the skill.

Alistair said: "We are critically aware that bellringing directly affects those within close earshot and that is why the quality of the ringing is of utmost importance. We are also very lucky to have so many enthusiastic new recruits who will help to secure the ringing for services, weddings and special events in Romsey for the future.

"For several months there has been a silent practice on a Thursday evening and recently more recruits have necessitated a second silent practice to teach basic bell handling skills. Some of the students are now ready to move on to join the experienced team at the full 'open' ringing practice on Wednesday evening in order to accommodate the additional numbers, it will be necessary to start the practice half-an-hour earlier."

That means that the chiming of the bells will begin at 7pm, instead of its current time of 7.30pm.

Alistair added: "We have a high-tech set-up in the tower with sensors fitted to all eight bells and also to a wooden dummy bell. We are able to secure the clappers inside the bells to silence them and connect the sensors to specialised bellringing software which plays simulated bell sounds through speakers in the ringing chamber."