DEDICATED volunteers at a church will no longer have to scale the dizzy heights of the steeple to wind the clock.

For 100 years, the clock in the 100ft steeple at St Paul's Church, Bridge Street, Ramsbottom, has been manually wound by volunteers who scaled a 30ft near vertical ladder, with only hand holes for safety, two to three times a week.

Now a grant from Pilsworth Environmental Company of £3,000 from the Landfill Tax Credit scheme has gone towards finding a less hazardous means of keeping the hands of time marching on -- an electronic device.

The grant was topped up with £700 from local businesses and £500 from Bury Council to enable work to start.

The clock was installed 100 years ago to mark Queen Victoria's jubilee and the church's 50th anniversary.

Joseph Dickenson, churchwarden, said: "Manually winding the clock mechanism is not an enviable task. It's a tricky climb to get up there.

"Automating the clock will set many people's minds at ease. People have been completing the climb for 100 years in spite of the safety issue."

Sidney Cockcroft, a director of Pilsworth Environmental Company, said: "In some towns and villages the only public timepiece is the clock on the church tower.

"PEC is aware that they are an integral part of our past and present communities and is pleased to give grant assistance."

The work is being undertaken by clock specialist Raymond Clayton, of Hoghton, who will maintain the clock and will be responsible for ensuring the new automated clock keeps the right time.