A clockmaker's specialist device could save a church's historic clock chimes from being switched off at night.

Clockmaker Wayne Francis, 50, travelled from Lincolnshire last Thursday to inspect the clock at St Peter's Church in Sandwich, which is due to be silenced at night because the district council deems it too noisy after hours.

Mr Francis, of Clockwise Restorations, says his mechanism is compatible with the clock in Market Street and he has quoted a reduced cost of £5,000.

Some campaigners, keen to keep the historic chimes, after DDC received complaints, have always said they want the chimes to remain as they are and not be muffled.

But after DDC's noise abatement notice was upheld, and they were told the decibel levels had to be reduced to below the World Heath Organisation's limit, this may be their only option.

Mr Francis spent three hours surveying the clock, checking its suitability for his device, which has been installed in only two other churches around the country.

He told KentOnline: "The clock and chimes will easily accommodate my device and I can confidently say that I will be able to reduce the sound levels to those advised by the World Health Organisation's night time levels.

"I took sound level readings around the church and at the frontage by a complainant's property, so I have readings to work from.

"Keeping in mind that each device is designed and manufactured uniquely for each clock and the need to carry out sound tests and adjustments throughout the night every 15 minutes, plus I have reduced the costs because the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) is a charity, I have offered to complete the installation for £5,000."

Mr Francis says he was invited initially by a concerned resident and then by both DDC and the CCT, which runs the church, to carry out his survey.

He is now awaiting their responses.

Mr Francis has been restoring antique clocks since he was 16.

He created his first muffling device when the clock at St Mary's Church in his home village of Ashwell, Hertfordshire, came under threat of being silenced in 2015.

With five generations of his family having lived in Ashwell, he was inspired to help with the situation.

He said: "I was in my workshop, restoring clocks, when I had a eureka moment and invented a way to reduce the volume of the chimes.

"I immediately pencilled a few sketches and thought 'this should work'. I then knocked together a working prototype, set up a small bell and tested it. It worked, very well."

He then built an improved model and took it to a parish council meeting in Ashwell, demonstrating how the sound levels could be reduced to near silence.

He said: "It was a hit!"

He then worked with the district council which gave him time to perfect his device.

He said: "There were some changes in design, not much and then it went live. The levels were checked again after six months and they had stayed the same, only a couple of the chimes having gone a bit quieter still.

"My device has been working between the hours of 11pm and 7am for over two years now."

Mr Franics explained that the device fits to any mechanical chiming turret clock, hooking onto the existing chiming levers. He does not know of any one else in the country who designs these sorts of mechanisms.

He said: "There is no drilling of holes or alterations to the clock. It meets good conservation guidelines and if removed will leave little evidence it was ever fitted.

"During the day time the clock and chimes function as they always have.

"That is the unique design of my device. It uses the original linkages and hammers and only reduces the volume of the chimes at night."

A DDC spokesman said: “We continue to work with the CCT to seek a solution. As this remains a live enforcement case we have no further comment to make.”

The CCT is yet to comment.