Victorian town hall's extra repairs may cost £1m

Medieval steps behind Rochdale Town Hall are no longer deemed safe

More than £1m could be spent on repairing Rochdale Town Hall's clock and the historic steps behind the Victorian building.

Rochdale Council said the £1.08m allocated for the work was a high estimate and it expected the actual costs to be lower.

Bosses at the local authority approved the work as part of an additional £3.5m in planned expenditure, to be financed by borrowing.

Designed by Leeds architect William Crossland, the Grade-I listed town hall opened in 1871.

The Victorian building's design symbolises Rochdale's rich history in the textiles industry

Since 2021, Rochdale Town Hall has undergone a £20m renovation.

However, some local residents have complained about the clock's accuracy.

The council said its mechanism was more than 60 years old and had only been kept going due to temporary repairs.

It said more work was now needed, with an estimated cost of up to £180,000.

Meanwhile about £900,000 has been allocated to fix the medieval steps which lead up to the Parish Church of St Chad.

The council said the steps, on the hill behind the town hall, were now "unsafe to use".

It said: "The historic significance of this site, coupled with the fact that it is in a conservation area, requires a high standard of work, including the use of high quality, heritage materials, to ensure the historic appearance and fabric of the structure is maintained."

Council meetings have been held in Number One Riverside since 2020 but will return to the town hall next year once its refurbishment has been completed.