A bid to reinstall an historic clock has been presenting challenges to Great Yarmouth Borough Council - with the timepiece weighing the same as an elephant.

The four-tonne Carnegie Clock once kept time above the old library building on Gorleston High Street - and last year plans were announced to restore the clock at the Palace Cinema.

But now a structural survey has concluded this would be too risky and has instead recommended a standalone clock tower.

The fate of the mechanism, which was put into storage in 1975 when the old library was demolished, will be discussed at a meeting of the borough council's policy and resources committee on Tuesday, February 7.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: The Carnegie Clock, which was part of Gorleston's old library building until 1975, is being restored by professionals at Michlmayr Clock and Watch Restorers of Norwich. The Carnegie Clock, which was part of Gorleston's old library building until 1975, is being restored by professionals at Michlmayr Clock and Watch Restorers of Norwich. (Image: Great Yarmouth Borough Council)

A document prepared ahead of the meeting has recommended that installation on a building be discounted "due to cost, complexity and risk".

Locations on Gorleston High Street have been considered but there are no suitable buildings, the report says. 

Officers state that a standalone tower located on council-owned land at the junction of High Street and Baker Street may be a suitable home.

This would allow the clock, which is being restored by professionals at Michlmayr Clock and Watch Restorers of Norwich, to be installed close to the original site.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: The Carnegie Library on Gorleston High Street before it was demolished in 1975. The Carnegie Library on Gorleston High Street before it was demolished in 1975. (Image: Archant)

Before the coronavirus pandemic, a group calling themselves Gorleston Library Friends raised around £6,000 to restore the clock to full working order and identify a new location.

The borough council has spent an additional £8,500.

In 1907, the then County Borough of Great Yarmouth purchased the clock for £110 and placed it on the corner of Gorleston's Carnegie library, making it visible from all directions.

In 1975, the library and a former tram service depot were demolished and the site was developed into the present-day library.

The clock was put into storage for safety.