People attempting to break into the earthquake-damaged Scarborough and New Brighton clock towers are putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation, the city council says.

The heritage clock tower in Scarborough is surrounded by scaffolding with fencing around it, but that has not stopped some people from trying to gain entry.

New Brighton’s damaged clock tower has also been targeted.

“The reason why the clock towers are fenced off is because we’ve had engineers working to determine how much damage they sustained in the earthquakes and what needs to be done to fix them,’’ said city council head of parks Andrew Rutledge.

“The assessments show while the clock towers are structurally sound, they both require extensive repairs. Some of the surface masonry is loose and could fall off if we got another strong quake and some of the floors in the New Brighton clock tower need replacing.

“It is not safe for the public to be in these clock towers which is why we have got them fenced off. Our concern is that if someone does try to break in while the repair work is under way, they could find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation,’’ Mr Rutledge said.

The repairs to the clock towers are likely to take several more months to complete and will involve removing all the clock faces so they can be restored by specialists.

The scaffolding on the Scarborough clock tower was installed in March and is costing $280 a week.

It is believed to be the first time the clock faces have been restored since they were built in the 1930s.

People trying to gain entry to clock towers at Scarborough and New Brighton are putting themselves in danger, the city council is warning.