A decision on the leap second is left for later.

The US argued at the meeting that leap seconds were causing problems for communication and navigation systems.

But the UK said that the long-term consequences of losing it were great.

An ITU spokesman said that Canada, Japan, Italy, Mexico and France all supported the United States' stance on losing the leap second, while Germany, like the UK, wanted the extra second to stay.

More countries though, including Nigeria, Russia and Turkey, wanted further study.

As a result, the ITU decided that more research was needed to consider the broader social implications of losing the leap second before a decision could be taken.

And I thought my life was small and inconsequential!!