'Repaired' Shrewsbury clock still not fixed
They say a stopped clock still tells the correct time twice a day – which must be some comfort to the people of Shrewsbury.
For the landmark clock on the tower of the town's Market Hall has stopped working – less than a day after repairs were carried out at a cost of thousands of pounds.
The time has been incorrect on all four clock faces for several months, and repairs were delayed when the wrong parts were sent.
But on Thursday clock specialists Smith and Derby carried out a £16,000 repair and the problem was thought to be fixed – until yesterday morning, that is, when one clock face still read four minutes to six.
Site manager Kate Gittins said she was "incredibly embarrassed".
She said: "The clock was fixed two days ago which was obviously great news because people do use that clock as a point of reference.
"So to find out the time is still incorrect on one of the faces makes me feel so embarrassed.
"We tweeted that the clocks were fixed and obviously the problem will get sorted."
Clock specialists Smith and Derby were unaware of the issue until they were informed yesterday morning.
A spokesman said he was "surprised" that the clock had gone wrong so quickly.
Keith Cotton, regional engineer for the company, said: "I was unaware of this problem and I understand that the engineer in question is very surprised that it has stopped working.
"We will be getting an engineer out as soon as possible to rectify the problem."
The clock had not been working for several months after site bosses decided it would not be financially viable to repair each face individually.
The drive joints have not been changed since the market hall and clock tower opened in 1965.
All of the clocks on the tower will be stopped at 1am on March 30 and restarted 11 hours later for the transition to British Summer Time.
