DYMOCK's erratic church clock appears to have a mind of its own.

The chairman of Dymock Parish Council, Terry Ball, has revealed that the church clock, which broke down yet again in February, actually started to tick as soon as it was taken down for repairs.

The wilful village clock of St Mary's Church, which is the responsibility of the parish council, has broken down on numerous occasions in recent years, leading to suggestions that Dymock is the village where time stands still.

Despite its unexpected performance, however, the clock is still officially broken and was taken away again by an engineer.

The erratic clock is currently still undergoing tests at Smiths of Derby, and Cllr Ball said he was still waiting to hear when it would be return.

He said: "I'll have no idea at all until they phone up and tell me the problem is sorted."

Cllr Ball explained: "Ironically, the clock started working again as the unit was removed because the weight was in the fully wound position and thus powered the clock when the friction in the rewind unit, which had been acting as a brake, was taken away."

Cllr Ball added: "The engineer was genuinely upset that we once again have no village clock. Let's hope that it will be back in action fairly soon."

The clock has broken down four times in a little over two years.

The recent break-down was completely unexpected by the parish council, which is responsible for the clock, because a troublesome winding mechanism had only been replaced last summer.

Famously, the clock ceased time-keeping for Christmas 2014, the New Year of 2015 and last summer, during Euro 2016, securing its own remarkable hat trick, which it has now exceeded by one.

The village, however, is hardly in the mood to celebrate, because precious repairs have cost the parish council as much as £700 a time.

The clock, in the medieval tower of St Mary's, would have been a familiar sight to the Dymock Poets, when they lived near the village just before the First World War.

Presumably, it kept better time in those days.