CHURCH bells near Swindon will ring out tonight in solidarity with the collapsed Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued an edict to all chapels, churches and cathedrals in the country to take part in a mass ringing following the destructive blaze which toppled the cathedral's spire on Monday.

Tony Pullan, the tower captain at Wanborough and Liddington St Andrews and All Saints church, will co-ordinate ringers to play a seven-minute lament at 7pm for the iconic Parisian cathedral.

"We will ring the tenor bells, the largest bells in each tower, slowly and solemnly so it creates an effect," he said.

"I always keep thinking if it had happened in my church, there's so much history in them.

"Only last Saturday we rang them at a wedding, it just goes to show that church bells are rung for all sorts of occasions."

Church bells will sound out across Wiltshire, with the sound of half-muffled bells also tolling at 7pm.

Anne Wardell of the tower team at Milton Lilbourne said the sound would be both poignant and solemn.

She said: “In the Vale of Pewsey, St Peter’s in Milton Lilbourne, St John the Baptist in Pewsey, and St Mary the Virgin in Upavon are taking part in what she described as a fitting tribute to mark the devastating fire in France."

Salisbury Cathedral has joined with the Archbishop of Canterbury in responding in French with prayers following the fire at Notre Dame.