A MAJOR landmark is out of order during Redcar’s peak season for tourists, leading to criticism of the council.

The Grade II-listed Redcar Town Clock has been out of order “for some time”, according to Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Abbott, who said one resident complained it was a “four faced liar”.

Cllr Abbott also slammed the council for planting “ugly” green shrubs in the town’s planters, which are usually adorned with seasonal bedding flowers.

He said: “The town clock is a main landmark and has been out of order for some time.

“It is the important clock in the town and the council is making all these spending cuts.

“Part of the cuts obviously means that they aren’t maintaining the clocks properly.

“It just looks really bad, like no-one’s bothered, and it’s the middle of the tourist season.

“The cut backs also mean they’ve planted these green shrubs everywhere which don’t look very nice.

“They’re making these kind of very visible cuts, which people will notice, so they can blame the government, and the cuts. But people don’t blame the government, they blame the council.

“It will also give a poor impression to all the visitors we have at this time of year. The planters look scruffy and the clock has stopped.”

The clock underwent a £110,000 restoration in 2003, just after it broke down and was believed to be unfixable.

But the council managed to fix the mechanism, before The Friends of Redcar Town Clock raised the cash and sourced funding to restore the whole structure.

Cllr Abbott said at the time it had been one of his priorities to get the clock ticking again.

He said yesterday that the clock had broken then through lack of maintenance and had rusted up – something he believed had happened again this time.

The clock is dedicated to King Edward VII, who was a regular visitor to the area.

It dates back to 1913, when funds were raised to build it, some by selling “penny bricks”.

After the Second World War the pendulum and weights mechanism were replaced by an electric motor to operate the clock and in 1984 the clock faces were all renewed.

The council’s website says the clock is “subject to our adverse weather conditions being situated so near to the North Sea”.

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council was contacted for a comment, but it had not made any comment by the time of going to press.