Every second counts in our busy world but busy people in Brighton and Hove have the best excuse in the world for being late - so many clocks in the city are not working.

Despite its £40,000 renovation which started four years ago, the Clock Tower in North Street has been constantly telling the world it is 9.30.

If we were to believe what the clocks say the world has quite literally come to a standstill.

Time-machine enthusiasts like Back to the Future's Doc Brown must be having a field day.

The clock tower in Queen's Park is 15 minutes slow and the clocks on top of Brighton General Hospital give two options, with one 15 minutes faster than the other.

The Floral Clock in Palmeira Square, Hove, just adds to the confusion. One face insists it is 2.45, while the other has stopped at 2.30.

Horologist John Watcham, 57, from Kemp Town, has been making clocks and keeping them wound up for ten years. He said the city's time-keeping was a "disgrace".

He said: "I know we all have quartz watches that tell the time to the nearest second but that's not the point. There's something extraordinarily satisfying about having a clock ticking and having them on public display. They're like the living heart of the city.

"It's frustrating for everybody, not having them working. My sons are terrible at wearing watches so if they were in town and there was a public clock that was working it would help.

"Even the Clock Tower, with the ball going up and down, has stopped. I don't know how much the council spent to restore it but it really should be going."

Mr Watcham, who usually ensures the upkeep of domestic clocks, also makes sure the two clocks at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, London, are wound up to keep proper time.

This involves a trip to London every week because one of the clocks will stop seven-and-a-half days after being wound.

Brighton General Hospital's clock has not been working for about six weeks because the person responsible for winding the clock has been ill.

But a spokeswoman for South Downs Health, which runs the building, said he would be returning today so it should be displaying the correct time again.

She said: "It would be a good idea for people to look at the clock and check it's working today."

The city council, which is spending about £70,000 to restore the 114-year-old clock tower in Preston Park, is responsible for it.

It is also responsible for the Clock Tower in North Street, which was built to mark Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.

It was restored so the mechanism making a golden ball go up and down every hour worked again after more than 100 years out of order.

Work on the Preston Park clock has included restoring rotting wood, re-wiring, replacing metalwork and leadwork.

Repainting the exterior has taken nine months and should be completed at the end of this month.

A council spokeswoman said: "The clocks owned by the city council are very well maintained.

"We are lucky to have so many beautiful historic clocks in the city. Many of them are over 100 years old and still have the original mechanisms, which operate using a series of cogs and pendulums and can be a little susceptible to the climate.

"In general they keep good time but, as with any sort of machinery, especially if it's over 100 years old, there is bound to be the odd breakdown. We try to complete all repairs as quickly as possible."

She added that since The Argus spoke to the council, the Clock Tower in North Street has been fixed and is keeping time once more.