For the past five years, time has stood still outside Bolton's railway station.

The historic clock tower, outside the main entrance in Newport Street, has been out of action because of a rotting internal mechanism.

Yesterday transport bosses celebrated the end of a £30,000 restoration project - and the clock is now telling the time again.

Cllr Margaret Clare, Bolton Council's spokesman on the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, which paid for the restoration, said: "I'm delighted we have been able to provide this money to save the clock tower and I'm sure it will remain a Bolton landmark for decades to come.

"We need to provide people with public transport facilities they can be proud of and I'm pleased that Bolton can boast an historic train station, which includes the clock tower.

"We're also working with Bolton Council, Network Rail and Northern Rail to secure funding to transform Bolton Interchange.

"We want to provide better shelter for passengers, improve the public toilets and make it easier for disabled people to get on to the trains.

"I hope the changes we're planning will encourage more people to use public transport in Bolton."

The tower was built as part of the old Trinity Street station building in 1899 but moved to its current location outside the mini bus interchange when the station was re-built in 1987.

And yesterday, campaigners were able to check they were on time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the tower's move.

They signed a giant birthday card with a photo of the clock tower taken in 1912 printed on the front.

Campaigner Helen Ireland, aged 73, said: "The clock tower is an important piece of Bolton's history and I'm pleased that it's now been restored to full working order more than a century after it was built.

"I remember the clock tower being a big part of my life when I was a child.

"We used to live near Trinity Street station and I walked passed it every day on my way to and from school.

"I'm sure a lot of marriages also owe their success to the clock tower.

"People used to meet under it when they were courting as everyone knew where it was."

Bolton is the third most-used train station in Greater Manchester after Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport, with nearly 2.3 million journeys made to and from it every year.