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Scientists hoping to unlock the secrets of the universe have this morning begun their multi-billion pound experiment in Switzerland.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the biggest machine in the world and will re-create the conditions of the universe seconds after the Big Bang, and in turn, help scientists find out what lead to the universe we see today.

Watching the experiment closely is Professor of Space Science at the University of Kent, Mark Burchell.

He worked for the organisation behind the experiment, CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, more than 10 years ago.

During his time there he did not work on this particular assignment, but on particle accelerators, like the LHC, which were on a much smaller scale.

Prof Burchell said: "This morning they injected these packets of particles into the big accelerator (LHC).

"They inject them at one point and step by step they have been trying to advance the particles bit by bit around the ring."

"It is like trying to thread a needle, whilst blindfolded; wearing oven gloves and having someone shout at you, ‘left a bit, up a bit, down a bit.

"One beam is going one way and another beam is going the other way, and occasionally where the beams intercept it will be like two cars colliding on the motorway."

Click here to see the Large Hadron Collider experiment explained

The collision points are surrounded by giant detectors where thousands of physicists will measure the particle fragments to see whether a new particle was created.

Costing more than £4 billion, questions have been raised over whether we really need to know how the universe began.

These questions have been echoed in comments made to Kentonline on the speak out below.

Prof Burchell said it was CERN who developed the World Wide Web after they encountered problems moving data to the various laboratories around the world.

He said: "Science can have economic utility but we are never quite sure which bit will be economically viable."

"CERN is addressing one of those fundamental questions, why is the universe the way it is?

"A few years ago at the Millennium people wrote lists of the 10 things we have to learn in the next 100 years and this is one of them."

Large Hadron Collider facts:

• The circumference of the LHC accelerator is 26,659m

• It is about 100m underground

• There are 9300 magnets inside

• All the magnets are cooled to -271 degrees C

• Particles are being crashed together at 99.99 per cent the speed of light

• Data recorded from each experiment will fill around 100,000 dual layer DVDs every year

SOURCE: CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research

• Audio: Prof Burchell speaks to kmfm about the Large Hadron Collider >>>