STAFF from a Poole hairdressers, who were fed up of looking out onto a dirty clock tower opposite their salon, have organised a fundraising event to cover its cleaning bill.

Hairdressers at the Hair By Zoe salon, at Poole’s Civic Centre gyratory system, hope their event nets the £1,400 needed to pay for the George V Memorial Clock Tower’s clean-up.

Borough of Poole currently has scaffolding around the building, on Commercial Road, to enable repairs to be carried out.

The clock has been stopped at 1pm since Christmas.

Zoe Beattie, of Hair By Zoe, explained: “I understand there are not the funds to clean the tower itself.

“Let’s face it, if the council paid to clean up the clock tower people would just moan about how it would be a waste of money.

“But this has been our clock; it’s been my view for the past 20 years.

“Whenever we’re asked the time we’d look up at the clock.”

When Miss Beattie spotted the scaffolding going up, she contacted the council to see if they’d object to the idea of a fundraising event.

This event, at the neighbouring Sloop pub, takes place on Sunday.

It starts at 11am with cakes, coffee, and a nostalgic look back at Poole, before a packed programme including a jester, barbeque and a prize raffle. At 3pm, local band The Vultures will be taking to the stage.

Borough of Poole senior property manager Hugh Lambourne said: “The local hairdressers contacted us to see if they could use this scaffolding as they are keen to have the tower cleaned.

“We are delighted to help, especially as we have a limited budget for maintaining council buildings and so are unable to fund non-essential works such as these.”

If you want to support the initiative visit The Sloop, 5 Commercial Road, Poole, 11am to 7pm, March 16. Admission: £1.50, children 50p.