Bell will toll outside its regular schedule for first time since George VI's funeral in 1952

Big Ben is to chime non-stop for three minutes to help ring in the London 2012 Olympics.

Special permission had to be gained for the hour bell at the Palace of Westminster to toll out of its regular sequence. It will strike more than 42 times between 8.12am and 8.15am on 27 July to herald the beginning of the first day of Games.

It will be the first time Big Ben has been rung outside its regular schedule since 15 February 1952, when it tolled every minute for 56 strokes for the funeral of King George VI.

The Turner-prize-winning artist Martin Creed came up with the idea for the London 2012 festival. He suggested all the bells in the country should be rung as loudly as possible for three minutes.

Bells will be ringing everywhere from Britain's northernmost inhabited house in Skaw in the Shetland Islands to the UK's most westerly church in Tresco in the Scilly Isles. The bells at the Welsh assembly, Stormont in Northern Ireland and the Scottish parliament will also ring, so all four parliaments will be chiming in unison at 8.12am.

The celebration aims to set a world record for the largest number of bells being rung simultaneously and can include anything from children with handbells to people ringing bicycle bells and doorbells to experienced ringing experts of tower bells and church bells.

The House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, said: "It is a sign of how special this summer is when one of the world's most famous bells will ring outside its regular schedule so it can be part of this London 2012 festival commission to ring in the Olympic Games.

"I am delighted we can play our part in this Martin Creed artwork.

"This is primarily a work for every community within the UK to embrace as their own but it is also important for our famous landmarks to be represented when the eyes of the world will be on us."