Broken Patcham clock tower in Brighton to be fixed

The Patcham clock tower in Mackie Avenue has stopped working due to an “electrical problem”.

The 90-year-old structure is also the target of graffiti, with one councillor stating the tower is something the city "needs to be proud of".

It was built in the 1930s to advertise the Ladies Mile estate by George Ferguson and is the only clock tower in the suburbs.

The clock tower in Mackie Avenue, Patcham

Brighton and Hove City Council said it will be fixing the clock within the next couple of days so it can be set when the clocks go forward on Sunday, March 27.

Alistair McNair, Conservative councillor for Patcham, said he gets contacted regularly about the clock tower when it breaks.

He said: “Since I have been a councillor, it has stopped at least three times. But it has stopped twice in the last month.

“The council do fix it, I think it’s problems with the electrics. It also suffers from graffiti quite often.

Alistair McNair is calling for the clock tower to be fixed for good

“This is a really important city monument that we should be proud of and look after. Of course for Patcham but for the whole city really. It’s a really special clock tower, we should look after our cultural heritage.

“We want to make sure it’s in good working order so people don’t have to call the council all the time. People care about it and contact me when the clock isn’t working.

“It’s hard to stop graffiti, but that’s the important thing, just raising people’s awareness just how important this piece of architecture is. You stop that sort of thing through education.”

A council spokesman said: “There is an electrical problem with the Patcham clock tower. UK Power Networks have visited the site, but the situation is still unresolved. 

“Our electrical maintenance contractors are hoping to resolve it in the next day or two, so that Cumbria Clocks can put the clock forward. 

The 90-year-old clock tower has broken twice in the last month

“We remove offensive graffiti within 24 hours of it being reported – and indeed removed some from the Patcham clock tower on Tuesday afternoon. 

“We also remove non-offensive graffiti as soon as we can from public monuments, subject to weather conditions and workloads. 

“We’re very saddened to see public monuments such as the Patcham clock tower being targeted by graffiti vandals. 

“Graffiti is a problem all over the world and we’re no exception. There are no easy answers in terms of tackling graffiti, but we take the issue very seriously.  

Graffiti is also an issue that the council deals with regularly

“We have invested in the city's first 24-hour graffiti clean-up trial. Further deep cleans around the city are planned. 

“We have also extended community protection notices to tackle graffiti vandalism. They now cover graffiti on commercially owned buildings and street furniture.   

“This allows us to impose timescales on owners of commercial premises and city infrastructure, such as phone kiosks and post boxes, to ensure any graffiti is removed from their property in a timely manner. 

“We would invite anyone with any information about who is causing graffiti around the city to contact the police.”