Clock chime repairs will strike over £7,000

More than £7,000 is going to have to be spent on sorting out the chimes on Newtown's town centre clock.

The clock tower has been at the centre of national media attention in recent times due to complaints over it bell chimes in the middle of the night.

It was agreed to stop the clock chiming in the night last year.

However, there have no been problems with clock striking correctly as well as the timing of the clock itself.

A specialist clock repairer has now been appointed to quote on repairs to fix the problem.

Smith of Derby said the upgrading of the striking and chiming chains to an electronic operation would cost £6,986.

Additional work would cost over £500.

"We have been servicing this clock for a longtime and our database shows that faults with the strike and chimes have been an increasingly persistent problem in recent years," said Tom Ratcliffe, a clockmaker at the company.

"I am pleased to provide my proposal and quotation for upgrading the current antiquated system for a much safer and reliable modern system which uses microswitches and an electronic controller."

He added: "I have also noticed a few reported issues with the time side of the clock. So I will also be providing optional costing for replacing the equally outdated T1 oil bath with anew synchronous movement to drive the hands of the clock.

"It would be much more cost effective to perform this work at the same time and have the whole system upgraded and working as new."

Newtown Town Council, which has responsibility for the clock, but not the building it sits on, will consider the quote next week when its Resources Committee meets.