THE cost of repairs to Otley's Jubilee Clock has been boosted by £20,000 from Leeds City Council.

Part of a £5 million fund distributed between all of the council's area committees, the money is the first major chunk towards the cost of repairing and restoring the town landmark - estimated at around £70,000.

Town councillors are currently looking at various sources of funding, including English Heritage and in May the mayor, Councillor Betty Bevan, urged people in the town to give whatever they could.

Councillor Graham Latty, chairman of the Outer North West Leeds Area Committee, which agreed to the allocation of £20,000 this week, said he believed it was a good cause.

"The Jubilee Clock in Otley is something that is attracting a great deal of attention and we're happy to support something that people in the town want."

Councillor Ryk Downes (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) said: "This money will reduce the impact of the bill on the people of Otley. It is a lot of money for the town to find and we're grateful to the area committee for supporting us.

"It is a lot of money, but people have to understand it is a listed building and requires specialist work. Even now, I speak to people who say they know someone who could repair it, but it just isn't so, it's got to be done professionally.

"The clock is an important part of Otley and the sooner we get it back the better. It can't be doing any good to the town having it covered in scaffolding as it is at the moment."

Councillor Colin Campbell (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) added: "Although this will only cover part of the costs of the scheme to bring this Otley landmark back into use, it shows an important commitment by city councillors to providing support for the people of Otley."

The clock casing was removed from the 117-year-old listed building last month to York blacksmiths Don Barker for repairs. A piece of the casing had fallen off in the summer last year, prompting safety checks which revealed the extent of damage.

It is currently on track to be replaced in time for the planned re-dedication on August 14.

Specialists working on the clock have discovered that the casing was removed once before - probably in the last 50 years.

They have also discovered that the clock face, thought to be Victorian, is in fact plastic and would have been added much more recently.

Layers of paint stripped off have shown that the clock in the past was at one time painted in gold gilt and was also green, red and yellow.

It is planned that the eventual colour of the clock will be as close a match to the original as possible.

The casing originally came from Glasgow company MacFarlanes, which produced a large number of pre-cast iron items from baths to band stands.