Penryn Town Council is to seek grant funding for repairs to the town hall clock tower due after excessive damp caused the iconic timepiece to strike at odd hours of the day and night.

The council needs to raise more than £50,000 to carry out the work which will include repointing, repairing the windows and louvers, adding lead capping and repairing and upgrading the clock mechanism at a cost of more than £5,000.

Town clerk Michelle Davey told the Packet: “It's been leaking for quite a while. It's the same as if we had a church tower, there are always small problems.”

She said the main problem with the clock tower lies with the fact that it is in sections, and when it was last repaired in 2002 a Cornwall Council conservation officer would not allow leading to be applied to one of the sections, which has allowed damp to seep in.

She said: “We need to try and press the conservation officer to allow the work.”

The council is applying for grant funding, and will have to show commitment to provide match funding of £20,000, although if enough money is raised then it will not have to be spent.

If the funding is secured, the council will be contracting RTP Surveyors to project manage work on the grade II listed structure, with Smith of Derby appointed to replace the clock and strike mechanism, which would also allow greater control of the clock with a silencing facility for night time use and new controls fitted at ground floor level.