COUNCIL bosses, contractors and a priest scaled a town hall clock tower yesterday.

The group climbed 160ft above Middlesbrough's town centre, marking a landmark moment in a £750,000 contract to repair and renovate the town hall clock tower and the spire.

Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon joined engineers and contractors and Father Glyn Holland, who blessed the spire.

Brian Glover, the council's head of transport and design, said: "There is still a lot of work to do, but we have made excellent progress and remain on course to finish the project before Christmas.

"The contractors have done a tremendous job and, like ourselves, have been committed to getting this work done efficiently and with the minimum of disruption to the public."

Workers have numbered and removed layer after layer of stonework and, where possible, repaired weather damage and returned it to the tower.