Calls to silence Newtown clock at night for tourism

The town clock was given to the people of Newtown in 1900 after construction began in 1898

There are calls for a nearly 120-year-old clock to be silenced overnight.

The mayor of Newtown, in Powys, said owners of B&Bs and hotels had received negative reviews on TripAdvisor from guests who had not slept well because of the bells.

Mayor David Selby is now holding a consultation over whether the bells - which chime every 15 minutes during the day and night - should be silenced.

The town clock was given to the people of Newtown in 1900.

"It strikes beautifully but loudly every quarter of an hour," Mr Selby said.

However, he said some people felt they are part of the Powys town's history.

'Lovely bells'

"So we have got the dilemma of helping tourism and those saying, 'the clock's been striking for 100 years, why should we stop it now?'

"So what should we do with these lovely bells of ours?"

He said he was asking whether the bells should be silenced between midnight at 07:00 every day, so New Year's Eve celebrations are not affected.

"We, as an ambitious town, want to grow our tourism industry, I want to find out whether it's important to people - does it really matter?

"I understand [the objections], but we've all got other ways of telling the time these days. It's not quite as important as it was."

One guest who stayed in a B&B in Newtown rated the experience as "terrible" on TripAdvisor, and wrote: "Avoid if you are a light sleeper! Stayed here for business - booked two nights but only stayed one - had to check out early unfortunately due to the unbearable noise from the town clock that rings every 15 minutes 24 hours a day."