Japanese electronics giant Seiko and the town council are to carry out trials in April 2009 for a digital clock face to replace the traditional circular timepiece on top of Bridlington Town Hall, or as it is now known the Customer Service Centre.

Following the recent retirement of the council clock winder, councillors advertised the vacancy but no-one was found suitable to take on the task. Everyone interviewed had either a bad back or two GCSE’s at F grade making them over-qualified.

Seiko have sent designs to council officers and among suggestions for the new timepiece are that it can broadcast tunes such as those used on mobile phones.

A local councillor, who asked to remain anonymous, said he expected to hear Oh I do like to be beside the seaside every day at noon. Seiko’s comment was that if that is what people wanted that’s what they could have.

The clock will offer all the standard functions of a digital watch with date, time and phases of the moon. A second set of figures will show the ambient temperature as well as wind speed and direction. Innovative features will show the current exchange rate for the Euro and a marching display of the Top Twenty. Times of high and low tides will also be shown. Facilities to show the time in other parts of Yorkshire were examined, but it was felt these would incur unnecessary expense.

A stop watch function will be programmed into the clock so that latecomers to meetings can be accurately timed and chastised.

The digits will be big enough to be seen easily, and at night they are to be back-lit to show up in a bright yellow against a black background. After an experimental period all four tower faces will have the digital features.

If the Seiko Civic – as the clock is known – is accepted by townsfolk then plans will be made to modernise the clocks in the Priory Church, Christ Church and Trinity Church.

“Providing there’s no power cuts, it will be fantastic,” said a council worker.

"The plans to alter the Town Hall clock are complete. All we need is the funding, and then we're ready to go. A pea and pie supper is only one of a range of fund-raising activities in the pipeline," he added.