CO-ORDINATORS of an artistic project in Harwich were left disappointed after being informed a piece of a large bell had fallen off and gone missing.

The Time and Tide Bell's clapper and other parts fell off during a high tide.

Bell co-ordinator Libby Scarfe was out of town when she was told about the issue and called on the help of another co-ordinator, Julie Hewitt, to investigate.

Julie said: “We don’t know how the bits fell off, Libby told me on Tuesday morning, and I went down with my husband to confirm it.

“We went down and it was true. The clapper and metal bits were gone so I put up a post in the Facebook group asking for help.

“One of the members said she had seen the items but didn’t know when they were.

"My husband and I went back immediately and recovered them.

Julie and her husband Ken initially went down in the morning during high tide and could not spot the clapper.

The group member went down when the tide was lower and saw the parts washed up on the seafront, from where they could be recovered in the afternoon.

Julie added: “When we went to recover the stuff everything was there. It's probably just the bolts failing that made the clapper fall off.

“There have been high winds and squalls which could have contributed to it as well.

“The bell designer Marcus Vergette said the first thing that might fail would be the clapper so it's not entirely surprising.”

The main structure of the bell is intact but it will not currently ring at high tide. The feature will return when the clapper is re-attached.

Libby and Julie are in contact with Marcus and different architects to work on fixing the bell.

Julie said: “We both felt quite sad when it happened but we are grateful that nothing went missing. It's now a matter of getting the situation resolved.

“Marcus may come down to fix it himself or guide us on how to fix it with our own separate contractors. We are unsure at the moment.”