Aberdeen Town House clock tower repairs could be more than £4.3m

The final bill for repairs to the clock tower at Aberdeen's Town House could end up at more than £4.3m, it has been revealed.

The work - which began in August 2014 - has now been completed.

More specialist contractors were brought in as the work progressed and the budget began to rise.

A council spokeswoman told BBC Scotland the last agreed budget was just under £4.3m but that the final bill for the project was still being calculated.

She said: "We can confirm that the restoration of the roof of the Town House, one of Aberdeen's historic civic buildings, is now complete.

"The scaffolding erected on Union Street came down over the weekend as the repairs came to a close.

"In the past two years the project has revealed many ornate and historic features which are unique to the UK.

"As the work progressed the scope was widened to account for additional structural issues which were previously not evident in initial assessments and which led to the schedule and budget being extended.

"This included the exposure of rotten wood in the building's four towers which were found underneath the slates and lead last summer that had to be replaced."

The spokeswoman added: "We made a commitment to bring this important civic building back to life and are delighted the project has now come to a close.

"The final cost of the project is still to be confirmed."