This cousin to Big Ben has sparked quite a stir after mysteriously appearing on the roundabout at the junction of Mandeville Way and West Mayne in Laindon.

The spectacular four-dialled clock, which sprung up yesterday, manages to make the same half-hourly clang as the London landmark but without its 13-ton bell.

Jan Parish, dairy manager of nearby Tesco supermarket in Mandeville Way, said it could become a tourist attraction. "It looks and sounds like Big Ben and is definitely eye-catching," she said.

But the identity of the ding-dong donator remained shrouded in mystery today with nobody seeming to know who is responsible for the area's latest landmark.

Published Friday, June 20, 2003

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