TEN weeks after the scaffolding went up, St Albans Clock Tower has reopened to the public.

The district council, which owns the building in Market Place, has replaced the wooden louvre slats covering some of the windows and repointed brickwork as part of the conservation work which was completed two weeks ahead of schedule.

The Clock Tower will now open from 10.30am to 4.45pm on Saturdays and Sundays and will be run by volunteers from St Albans and Herts Architectural and Archaological Society and the Civic Society. Admission is �1 per adult with accompanied children allowed in free.

The Grade 1 listed building is the only medieval Clock Tower of its kind in the country and Simon West, the council’s archaeologist, described it as a building of significant architectural interest in St Albans.

He added: “From the beginning it had a mechanical clock, a great rarity at that time. The tower was a symbol of civic pride and was used both as a lookout and to sound a curfew, ringing the time when people needed to be at home keeping a watchful eye over their fires to prevent them getting out of control.”