ST COLUMB has been stuck in time for six months – after the town clock broke and has not been repaired.
The time has shown 12 o'clock for half a year and some residents, including former guesthouse owner Roger Ford, are now saying "enough is enough".
He claims that since the church clock was electrified – changed from manual to electronic turning in a move agreed by the previous town council in 2011– there have been endless problems.
He said the changing of the clock had cost local taxpayers between £6,000 and £8,000 and was a "waste" of their money.
The clock did not even chime at midnight on New Year's Eve, which newly-elected mayor Paul Wills said was "embarrassing".
"I think it is disgusting," said Mr Ford, of Lower East Street.
"The previous council threw away a lot of money on the town clock to have it switched from a manual turning to an electric turning.
"It is not working. Someone came to do it, then they came again [to repair it] and now it has been stuck on 12 for six months."
The 71-year-old questioned why the manual job of winding the clock, which had been done by the same person for around 50 years, was not advertised to a local person in order to save money.
"I have had three or four people call me and say they would have been happy to turn the clock on a rota basis.
"I was happy to do it myself," he said.
"I think they should have sought public advice and told us that it was going to cost £6,000."
Paul Wills, newly elected town mayor, confirmed that the clock had been stuck on 12 for six months.
He said the clock was electrified at "considerable cost" to the taxpayer, a decision made by the previous administration and one he did not agree with.
He said the process caused problems with the mechanism of the clock but that the company which was commissioned to carry out the work was returning to attempt to repair it this week.
"I have asked at every opportunity about the clock and every time I was told, 'We are trying to sort it'," he said.
"When I started as mayor I put my foot down and said I want it sorted."
