The bells of Dunedin's municipal timepiece have clocked off - at least temporarily.
Dunedin City Council city property assistant manager Rhonda Abercrombie said yesterday the chimes of the Municipal Chambers clock in the Octagon had been switched off until a mechanical fault could be repaired.
Unfortunately, it was not yet known when the repairs would be carried out, or what they would cost, as Dunedin-based clock caretaker Jeff Martin could not be contacted, she said.
"We are leaving messages all over the place."
Council staff had thought they had fixed a fault that caused a 10-chime peal at 10.30am on Monday.
However, staff had continued to monitor the clock's performance, and decided to switch off the chimes on Tuesday afternoon after more glitches when the clock chimed at quarter-hour intervals, Mrs Abercrombie said.
"The clock is still telling the right time, it's just not going to have the chimes going until we managed to get it repaired," she said.
The mechanical fault was not believed to be "a major problem", but was "definitely something that's affecting the chimes", she said.
"We're just not sure what it is at this stage. We definitely are working on it."
The clock was installed in 1880 and last underwent a major refurbishment in July 2007.
In February last year, the clock ground to a halt after a mechanical fault caused it to stop, and the chimes were also switched off in October last year during the Otago Festival of the Arts.
In February this year, the bells and clock's hands were stopped again for a week to allow installation of fire sprinklers in the clocktower as part of the Municipal Chambers upgrade.
