THE owners of an historic Glasgow station clock which featured in the film Gregory’s Girl are refusing to 'give it back ' Network Rail to form a centrepiece for the new Queen Street station.

The town of Cumbernauld was gifted the clock as a 21st birthday present from Glasgow businessman Raymond Gillies, who had bought it after St Enoch station closed in 1966.

It was moved to a Cumbernauld shopping centre and was later shifted to a closed-off section in the complex, now the Antonine Centre, which will be re-opened to the public next week.

But now Network Rail say they want it back as part of the £120 million redevelopment of the city’s Queen street terminus which is due to be completed this year.

Read more: Public to be given the chance to get a sneak peak of new Queen Street development 

However, the clock's current owners are determined to keep it as it is an “important artefact” to the new town.

Network Rail say getting it back would be a “nod back to the past”.

Tommy McPake, Network Rail programme manager, said: “We have asked if we could get it, which would be a nod back to the past. It would be great to get it here, it would be fantastic.”

Glasgow North East Labour MP Paul Sweeney, who previously proposed the move, was delighted it was being taken up.

He said: “This would be an ideal location for what is an iconic part of Glasgow’s lost railway heritage and would also make for a fine centrepiece of the renewed station concourse.

“Although a classic Victorian train shed, Queen Street never had a proper station clock like at London St Pancras, Liverpool Lime Street, Glasgow Central or the former St Enoch Station, which was one of the worst architectural losses in Glasgow’s history when it was demolished in the 1970s.

“Residents of Cumbernauld who also hold the clock in affection since it was gifted to the new town, especially from its cameo in Gregory’s Girl, will still be able to enjoy it when they arrive directly into Queen Street.

Read more: First look at new Queen Street Station 

“It will be in a much more prominent location than it is currently the Antonine Centre.”

The clock’s current owners said they are unwilling to let it go back home.

Allan Graham, chair of Campsies Centre (Cumbernauld) Ltd, which is owned by North Lanarkshire Council, said: “The clock is an important artefact in the town’s history and local residents are keen to see it on public display.

“The Campsies Board is committed to finding a permanent home for the clock and is actively working with North Lanarkshire Council to identify suitable sites within the town.

“However, the requirements of a site are challenging because of the condition and size of the clock.”

Network Rail said the clock could be the centrepiece of the station’s new glass-sided concourse.

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The front of the station is being extended to accommodate longer platforms for new eight-carriage ScotRail electric trains to cope with expected passenger growth.

Numbers using the station are forecast to grow by 40 per cent to 28 million by 2030.

The platforms should be complete in November in time for longer and faster services starting the following month.

They will cover the whole of the current concourse, with a new L-shaped frontage being built out to the edge of George Square following the demolition of an office block and the Millennium Hotel extension.

The glass-sided arched roof of the grade A-listed station will be retained within the building, which dates from 1880 and replaced the original 1842 terminus.

Mr McPake said: “The finished product will be transformational.It has been tucked behind a 1970s building that blocked the light from coming in.

“That did not entice anyone into the station.”

One hundred people will get a behind-the-scenes tour of the site next week as part of the UK-wide Open Doors initiative to encourage more people to consider careers in the construction industry