Spanner in works of 'Big Bang' machine

THE huge particle collider built to simulate the conditions of the Big Bang will not restart until spring, following a weekend technical glitch, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) said last night.

A large amount of helium leaked into the tunnel of the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva on Friday, forcing the £3.6 billion particle accelerator to be shut down less than ten days after the start of the project, which scientists hope will unravel the secrets of the first moments of the universe.

Cern, which is running the experiment, said an initial investigation suggested a faulty electrical connection between two of the accelerator's magnets could be to blame.

The collider requires temperatures just above absolute zero to allow particles to be steered around the circuit.

But as a result of the fault, the temperature of the magnets rose by about 100C.

The affected area of the 27km (16.8-mile) tunnel must be brought up to room temperature to allow engineers to inspect the magnets, and this will take three or four weeks.

Robert Aymar, the director-general of Cern, said: "Coming immediately after the very successful start of LHC operation on 10 September, this is undoubtedly a psychological blow."