THE long-awaited renovation of Northwich railway station has begun and it's literally about time.

In advance of the September opening of a £500,000 state-of-the-art learning centre at the Victorian station, the iconic clock has been taken away by clock specialist JB Joyce of Whitchurch for restoration.

The company, founded in 1690, originally built the timepiece in 1897. Current general manager Keith Cotton outlined the work that needs to done.

He said: 'There aren't that many station clocks that are still in service and the Northwich one is in fairly poor condition.

'The original movement that drove the hands disappeared some time ago so we are fitting a new electric movement.

'We are hoping to get it back for September when it's the official opening - everybody notices the clock.'

Though rare today, the station clock has an important part in history.

It was the coming of the railways that led to a world-first for Britain - the standardisation of time throughout a country.

Prior to 1840, the time depended on where you lived, with noon being when the sun was highest in the sky.

The railways could not operate on such an inconsistent system and forced a uniform time on the country - first adopted by the Great Western Railway in 1840.

By 1855 most clocks displayed Greenwich Mean Time; this became law in 1880.