Sparks won"t fly: Big Ben"s big bang cancelled after last year"s went phut - PHOTO

Showers of sparks were arranged by Boris Johnson to welcome in 2012Pyrotechnics so impressive they were reinstalled last DecemberHowever, the £17,000 battery failed to detonate, and was secretly removedMPs watching from the Commons did not realise fireworks were reinstalledBig Ben has been counted out of a New Year’s fireworks display this week – because the pyrotechnics mysteriously flopped 12 months ago.Showers of sparks exploding above the world-famous clock face were arranged by London Mayor Boris Johnson to welcome in the ‘Olympics Year’ in 2012 – and were considered so impressive that they were reinstalled last December.But in what has until now been a closely guarded secret, the £17,000 battery embarrassingly failed to detonate. The event was such a damp squib that MPs watching from the Commons terrace did not even realise that fireworks had been reinstalled.A Commons insider said: ‘Last year they were due to be detonated on the stroke of midnight, but when the moment came and the button was pressed, nothing happened.‘The BBC panned its cameras over to the London Eye instead and on January 2, in some secrecy, the fireworks equivalent of the Bomb Disposal Squad was sent in to disarm them and cart them off.‘As a result, a quiet pledge was taken among senior Commons officials not to repeat the idea.’A spokesman for Mr Johnson claimed last night the fault was spotted two hours before the display was due to happen but could not be fixed in time.One Labour MP quipped: ‘This has to be the first time in history that something explosive associated with Boris Johnson has failed to go off.’(Daily Mail)ANN.Az