Doofus Of The Day #87

For the third day in a row, Britain earns our Doofus Of The Day award. (Must be something in the water over there!)

This time it goes to the entire Barnsley City Council in Yorkshire.

A council has sparked anger by lavishing more than £30,000 of taxpayers' money on a giant 'art' clock that no-one can read.

The quirky timepiece, which cost a total of £32,500 [about US $56,220] adorns the side of the new Civic building in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

It features 20,000 tiny bulbs which light up to form groups of red lights representing the hands of a clock.

There is a long line for minutes, a shorter line for hours and a red dot for seconds.

The lights move in a square pattern around the side of the building like a form of Morse code - but there are no figures from one to 12 to tell the time.

Its brightness alters with the weather so it is visible at all times.




Problem is, hardly any passers-by in Barnsley can tell it is a clock.

Barnsley councillor Malcolm Price said: 'I went to have a look at this clock but couldn't see it.

'I saw some red lines and dashes and thought I must be on the wrong side of the building.

'In the end I just gave up, turned my head to the right and looked at the old Town Hall clock instead.

'I don't think the Barnsley public will be able to make head nor tail of it either. It is a complete waste of money.'

When told it was a clock, nightclub promoter Dan Ogden, 19, of Carlton, Barnsley said: 'This has got to be the single most stupid, most pointless thing I have ever seen in my life.'

Anne Hurst, 67, of Gawber, Barnsley said: 'I really don't think I could have guessed what it was not in a month of Sundays.

'It is a total waste of money as far as I am concerned. We already have the Town Hall clock anyway.'

Looking at it, it seems to me like a cross between a Snakes & Ladders board and a map of a railway commuter service! Weird . . . And how on earth does one read it? In the picture below, it's apparently showing a time of 12.37 p.m.




Can you figure it out? Darned if I can!

This definitely qualifies as one of the more doofidical decisions of a City Council in my experience!

Peter