Guisborough Parish Church clock is ticking again - but time is up for David Court after more than 30 years.

A new electric winding system has been installed in the clock tower of St Nicholas, ending 66-year-old Mr Court's regular task of manually winding the clock every other day.

The work has been done by Leeds-based William Potts, clock makers and repairers, in a £6,000 project funded by Redcar and Cleveland council, Guisborough Town Council and the Parochial Church Council.

Mr Court, a retired council foreman, never missed a visit. "We are people of the North - we don't take holidays or sickness. I have never had to get anyone to do the job for me."

He recalls a starting wage of £15 a year, rising to £178, an average rate of 40p a visit for the 198 turns he needed to make. His job was to winch the weights 20ft high, and as they descended they drove the clock's mechanism.

Council project co-ordinator, Doug Huzzard, said: "David will still be involved with the clock. And we are delighted it is ticking again, without the threat of anyone getting hurt."

Town council chairman Coun Brian Whiteley said: "We are happy to see the clock ticking again as I am sure everyone in the town is."

The Queen Victoria memorial clock, made in 1901, stopped in May last year because of fears that its three unprotected weights, each weighing just over a quarter of a ton, could have fallen from their supporting cables.

As the body responsible for the clock's maintenance, the council stopped it until safety checks had been made. It was eventually decided to install an electronic mechanism to get the clock going again.

Parochial church council secretary Ken Brookfield said: "This has been a working partnership to bring the clock back to working order. We are delighted.