maintenance work is due to start on St James' Chapel next week, with refurbishments inside and outside the church.

The work has been made possible by funding from Okehampton United Charity, which has donated almost £10,000.

The church's clock will be one of the main points of focus, with an automatic restart system being put into place. This will allow the clock to restart itself if there is a power cut.

The clock faces will also be cleaned and refurbished, with the wooden outlays updated.

The ringing mechanism for the traditional curfew bell will also be reinstated. Historically, the bell was rung at 8pm every night to mark the beginning of the nightly curfew, but the mechanism was removed following the discontinuation of this practice. The reinstallation will allow the curfew bell to be rung once more.

The chapel will also receive internal repairs. Plaster work will be carried out on the north side of the building, and repairs will be made around the south-east window. The porch will also be redecorated following frost damage from 2009. External repairs and redecoration will be made to the guttering following a number of cracks in the joints, one of which has led to the chapel's internal damage.

Building work will be carried out by Brian Vernon of Okehampton.