Out-of-sync clocks wind up councillor

A CITY councillor has called on local shops to keep their clocks up to speed so the city “isn’t stuck in the past”.

Lynne Short has claimed the large clocks which adorn city centre jewellers do not keep time and said the timepieces were “driving her to distraction”.

She said: “The clock at H Samuel, for instance, is at two different times on each side. One is slightly out and the other is completely wrong.

“As the clocks belong to the shops we can’t sort it ourselves — we need people to work with us on it.”

Ms Short added that some of the town’s clocks date back decades and have their own place in the city’s heritage which needs to be respected.

She said: “H Samuel’s clock is iconic — it’s been the backdrop to everything that’s ever happened in the city centre over the years.

“In my lifetime it has always kept time through everything — but it isn’t now.”

She said that she hoped building owners could be encouraged to maintain the clocks to improve the city’s aesthetic.

“This is all about working together — it would be a partnership and we have got to really work with people.

“While, of course, we’re focusing a lot on the Waterfront, I’ve got my eye on the city centre. I want to make sure it’s working as well as it can be.

“I don’t want Dundee to be known as the city where time stood still.”

Ms Short added that she had asked the council’s team of city centre ambassadors to reach out to the owners of each clock to see what could be done.

However, she added that they weren’t having “much luck”.

The Tele went to vi sit the city centre’s clocks and found a number of them were out of time.

The H Samuel clock was correct on two faces, but was 25 minutes slow on its central face overlooking the city square.

The Pillars clock, also known as the Town House clock, positioned above Robertson and Watt on High Street, was not working on either face.

Staff in businesses surrounding the clock were unsure as to who was responsible for its maintenance.

Independent jeweller Stephen Henderson’s clock was missing from his store on the Nethergate.

A member of staff said that the store was due to have new external fittings attached in the near future, which would include the installation of a new clock.

A spokeswoman for H Samuel’s parent company Signet Jewelers said: “We continually assess our portfolio of stores on a store by store basis and these stores are reviewed on a regular basis as part of our maintenance programme.

£We’re unable to give any indication of future store or property plans and would decline to comment any further on this occasion.”

Lynn Short says the large clocks at H Samuels show different times.