CARFAX Tower’s iconic chiming quarter boys and clock are set to be restored to their former glory.

Scaffolding has already gone up around the Oxford city centre landmark and work to restore the figures and clock will start today.

The figures are named “quarter boys” because they strike the chimes every 15 minutes, a spectacle which brings tourists to the tower in their scores.

They have suffered from general wear and tear and have not been restored since they were put up in the 1960s.

The previous figures are on display in the Explore Oxford museum at the Town Hall.

Oxford City Council cultural development manager Ceri Gorton said: “Carfax Tower is a much-loved tourist attraction and it is important for our cultural heritage to preserve these historic figures as well as all that comes with the tower.

“The quarter boys will be taken down and restored to their former glory.

“This is a delicate and detailed process which takes experts weeks to complete and we want to make sure that it is done so they look like they did originally.

“The end process will see a much improved Carfax Tower, which we hope the people of Oxford will continue to enjoy, along with the many tourists who visit the city each year.”

The current figures will be taken down and restored along with the bells, clock hands and mechanism.

While they are being restored, there will be some stone cleaning and decoration works carried out at the tower.

The quarter boys’ blue, scarlet and gold paint will also be part of the restoration work.

The clock will be serviced by a specialist clockmaker’s workshop – Smith of Derby – and all work, which will cost £35,000 in total, is expected to be finished by the end of May.

City council senior building surveyor Jack Bradley said: “This is a really interesting project and I’m pleased to be involved in it.

“The quarter boys are a famous part of Oxford’s heritage and it is great that we are bringing them back to their former glory.”

Oxford Civic Society chairman Peter Thompson said: “They, along with the clock in the middle, are quite an icon in the centre of Oxford and it’s a good thing this is happening.”

Carfax Tower was part of St Martin’s Church which was rebuilt in 1818 with the tower.

Towards the end of the 19th century, mounting traffic problems led to road widening.

The church, apart from its tower, was demolished in 1896.

The tower is all that remains today.

The two quarter boys are on the east facade.