Grimsby Minster: Broken clock repair bill put at £50,000

Grimsby Minster's clock has been showing a time of 12:05 for more than a year

The broken clock on a Grimsby landmark will cost £50,000 to repair.

The hands on Grimsby Minster's dial have been stuck at five past twelve for more than a year.

A local councillor recently called for urgent repairs, saying the dodgy timepiece gave a bad impression to people visiting the port town.

However, Steven Maxson, director of music at the church, said they needed to find the large sum of money to pay for the remedial works.

"There is nothing we would love more than to have the minster clock running again and to have the clock chiming at the quarter hours," he said.

"But it is an expensive business.

"The minster tower is very, very high and is surrounded by stonework on the rest of the building which would require lot of scaffolding and work.

"We've got estimates and we know what it's going to cost. It's just a question of finding the nearly £50,000 we need."

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He said carrying out the repairs from within the clock tower was not an option.

The clock was recently tested while quotes were being received and in that time, Mr Maxson says, the minster received "lots of excited phone calls saying 'The clock is working again!'".

The St James' Square area around the church has undergone a £1.8m revamp to encourage the public to spend time there, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Tim Mickleburgh, of North East Lincolnshire Council, had called for the repairs to stop people coming to the town leaving with a negative view.

"When people come from all over... it doesn't look good if the clock isn't working - it's a bad example," he said.