A CLOCK which has stood still for years will soon be chiming the hour above a city centre.

Work to restore St Nicholas's Church clock, in Durham City's Market Place, began yesterday when specialist contractors William Potts and Son removed the 130-year-old mechanism for transportation to a workshop in Derby.

It will be refurbished using new parts based on the original workings, a process which should take about four to six weeks before the clock is returned to Durham.

The timepiece was made in 1871 by Dent of The Strand, in London - the same firm which made the clock on the Big Ben tower.

It stopped working about five years ago, since when its hands have remained at ten to two.

Durham City Council is funding the £3,500 restoration and the clock's future maintenance.

Tracey Ingle, the council's principal design and conservation officer, said the plan was to keep the clock's original features.

That means it will be the job of someone to climb the church tower's spiral staircase once a week to wind the clock and ensure it keeps time.