LYE'S town clock will soon be ticking again after a successful £14,000 funding bid to bring it back to the High Street.

The four-face clock is currently being restored with new clock faces and workings and will be installed near the junction with Pedmore Road over the winter.

It has been in storage for the last five years after it was removed from the High Street in 2014 to make way for a retail development.

A campaign, however, was launched to bring it back to the High Street and a funding bid was submitted to Ibstock Enovert Trust through the Landfill Communities Fund to help get the clock restored and returned to public view.

The council has now secured £14,400, to add to £5,000 already secured by Caledonia Residents Association for the project, and the clock will now be installed outside 1-2 High Street.

Councillor Ian Kettle, Dudley's cabinet member for regeneration and enterprise, said: "The local people of Lye have been asking for the clock to be put into the High Street for some time and I am glad the council has been able to secure some money to be able to do that.

"The clock reflects the industry and history of this important area and I am very much looking forward to seeing it back in the centre of the town.”

Angela Haymonds, Ibstock Enovert Trust secretary, added: "The trustees are keen to support projects that preserve and enhance the heritage of the areas in which it operates. As well as providing a practical function, this clock celebrates Lye’s rich industrial history and IET is pleased to be able to contribute towards its reinstatement.”

Designed in the 1980s by borough artist Steve Field, the four-metre tall clock was fashioned to represent the area and features frost cogs - a Lye invention in the industrial revolution to prevent horses slipping on winter ice. The base also features hexagonal forged ingots which were made in the town.