The former Soviet republic has changed its time zone back to that of Moscow.

As a result it is now just four hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, rather than five hours ahead.

The switch was decreed by the pro-Western president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, who said the change was partly prompted by the process of integration into Europe.

In the 1990s, Georgia switched to five rather than four hours ahead of GMT in an effort to combat the effects of a national energy crisis.

The change back means Georgia is now three hours ahead of London and two hours ahead of Paris and Berlin.

Georgia is about 1,600km (1,000 miles) south of the Russian capital, but only 400km to the east.