A community group has been formed to lead the fundraising for the restoration and repair of the clock at St Mary’s Church.

Following the decision made by Llanfair Caereinion Town Council to pass over handling of the repairs to a community group, an inaugural meeting of the group was labelled a “great success” by the Town Clerk.

The group is comprised of two church appointees, two town councillors and four members of the public.

The Vicar of St Mary’s Church, Reverend Jane James, is happy with a Community Group to raise money and help with the restoration of the Church Clock.

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Town Clerk Robert Robinson, who will administer the Community Group meetings as a volunteer, said: “As a group that is distinctly separate from the Town Council, this community group should bge able to move much more freely to raise funds on our own time.

“The Town Council is somewhat limited in what it can do in these matters, as restoring parts of the Church building, a privately owned property, can’t be carried out using council funds.

“Having considered whether to repair the existing clock or replace the mechanism with a new one clockface, the decision was made to repair the existing arrangement.”

The Community Group has already allocated £1500 of funding, as well as £700 collected from Llanfair’s caravan parks, and is hoping to receive grant funding as soon as possible.

Speaking on the meeting, Cllr Robinson said: “It was a very friendly, very welcoming environment, with everyone involved keen get things done and get the process of repair started.”