diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 816231e..ad7cf34 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ Changelog
 3.4dev (unreleased)
 -------------------
 
+- Allow seconds in vUTCOffset properties. Fixes #55.
+  [thet]
+
 - Let ``Component.decode`` correctly decode vRecur properties. Fixes #70.
   [thet]
 
diff --git a/src/icalendar/prop.py b/src/icalendar/prop.py
index 73ae615..6a10826 100644
--- a/src/icalendar/prop.py
+++ b/src/icalendar/prop.py
@@ -790,20 +790,24 @@ class vUTCOffset(object):
         self.params = Parameters()
 
     def to_ical(self):
-        td = self.td
-        day_in_minutes = (td.days * 24 * 60)
-        seconds_in_minutes = td.seconds // 60
-        total_minutes = day_in_minutes + seconds_in_minutes
-        if total_minutes == 0:
+
+        if self.td<timedelta(0):
+            sign = '-%s'
+            td = timedelta(0)-self.td # get timedelta relative to 0
+        else:
             # Google Calendar rejects '0000' but accepts '+0000'
             sign = '+%s'
-        elif total_minutes < 0:
-            sign = '-%s'
+            td = self.td
+
+        days, seconds = td.days, td.seconds
+
+        hours = abs(days * 24 + seconds // 3600)
+        minutes = abs((seconds % 3600) // 60)
+        seconds = abs(seconds % 60)
+        if seconds:
+            duration = '%02i%02i%02i' % (hours, minutes, seconds)
         else:
-            sign = '+%s'
-        hours = abs(total_minutes) // 60
-        minutes = total_minutes % 60
-        duration = '%02i%02i' % (hours, minutes)
+            duration = '%02i%02i' % (hours, minutes)
         return sign % duration
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/src/icalendar/tests/test_fixed_issues.py b/src/icalendar/tests/test_fixed_issues.py
index 4cb9678..5f48189 100644
--- a/src/icalendar/tests/test_fixed_issues.py
+++ b/src/icalendar/tests/test_fixed_issues.py
@@ -28,6 +28,29 @@ class TestIssues(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(tz['tzid'].to_ical(), "America/New_York")
 
 
+    def test_issue_55(self):
+        """Issue #55 - Parse error on utc-offset with seconds value
+        https://github.com/collective/icalendar/issues/55
+        """
+        ical_str = """BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
+TZID:America/Los Angeles
+BEGIN:STANDARD
+DTSTART:18831118T120702
+RDATE:18831118T120702
+TZNAME:PST
+TZOFFSETFROM:-075258
+TZOFFSETTO:-0800
+END:STANDARD
+END:VTIMEZONE"""
+
+        tz = icalendar.Timezone.from_ical(ical_str)
+        self.assertEqual(tz.to_ical(),
+            'BEGIN:VTIMEZONE\r\nTZID:America/Los Angeles\r\nBEGIN:STANDARD\r\n'
+            'DTSTART:18831118T120702\r\nRDATE:18831118T120702\r\nTZNAME:PST'
+            '\r\nTZOFFSETFROM:-075258\r\nTZOFFSETTO:-0800\r\nEND:STANDARD\r\n'
+            'END:VTIMEZONE\r\n')
+
+
     def test_issue_58(self):
         """Issue #58 - TZID on UTC DATE-TIMEs
         https://github.com/collective/icalendar/issues/58
@@ -82,8 +105,7 @@ SUMMARY:Esb mellon phone conf
 DTSTART:20070220T170000
 DTSTAMP:20070221T095412Z
 SEQUENCE:0
-END:VEVENT
-"""
+END:VEVENT"""
 
         cal = icalendar.Calendar.from_ical(ical_str)
         recur = cal.decoded("RRULE")
diff --git a/src/icalendar/tests/test_prop.py b/src/icalendar/tests/test_prop.py
index 2ec53d1..a5b9527 100644
--- a/src/icalendar/tests/test_prop.py
+++ b/src/icalendar/tests/test_prop.py
@@ -401,6 +401,11 @@ class TestProp(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(vUTCOffset(timedelta(hours=1, minutes=30)).to_ical(),
                          '+0130')
 
+        # Support seconds
+        self.assertEqual(vUTCOffset(timedelta(hours=1,
+                                              minutes=30,
+                                              seconds=7)).to_ical(), '+013007')
+
         # Parsing
 
         self.assertEqual(vUTCOffset.from_ical('0000'), timedelta(0))