Bradford Council is demanding the owners of Shipley's iconic clock tower get it working again.

It is putting pressure on London and Associated Investment Trust - owners of the clock tower and the Shipley Indoor Market - to repair the tower so Council workers can look at the clock mechanism with a view to finally fixing it.

It has been stuck on the same time - 11.24 - for years because its owners say it is a health risk for anyone to climb the tower to fix it.

Instead, they are looking at options including demolishing the clock tower as part of a major refurbishment, which will include a new façade for the indoor market.

However, a spokesman for Bradford Council, which is effectively the landlord of the indoor market complex, said the plans "did not meet the aspirations" of the Shipley town centre masterplan.

She said officers had asked London and Associated to repair the tower so the Council could get the clock ticking again.

Andy Rowley, of Shipley, who gathered more than 2,500 signatures from residents calling for something to be done about the clock, backed the Council's demands. He said: "I welcome the fact Bradford Council has now decided to take positive action.

"Let's hope that this private firm will do what it is supposed to do - make the area safe so the Council can access it and make it work, because this is really making Shipley a laughing stock.

"It is disgraceful, when we are trying to attract businesses to invest in Shipley, that we can't even get a working town clock.

"Everybody I have spoken to thinks it is farcical that we have got this clock, which is a landmark, and it is stuck on 11.24. It is an embarrassment to us."

He said that, despite the request for work to be carried out on the tower, the Council seemed to have reached an "impasse" in its negotiations with its owners.

David Priestley, a spokesman for Leeds-based Towlers, agents for the property group, said Council officers were not "fully in favour" of its plans, which would include a new clock tower.

"They have not given any particular reason why," he said.

"At the moment, we are not quite in agreement with the Council on where we go on the future of the clock tower.

"It has got repair problems and it is being considered for demolition because it is getting beyond its useful life, as many 1960s buildings are.

"We need the Council to go along with us and agree with us over its future."

He said negotiations with the Council would continue after a meeting with London Associates on Wednesday, June 25.

A Council spokesman said: "The Council's department of regeneration is aware of the company's proposals for a mixed use redevelopment to include a replacement clock feature.

"The plans do not meet the aspirations of the Shipley Town Centre Masterplan and London and Associated has been asked to put the clock tower into repair in order that the Council may access the clock mechanism."