Councillors have put a stop to their bid to transplant an organ into St Keverne Parish Church after hearing it was just not feasible.

Last month the parish council voted to look at the possibility of relocating the organ from the now closed village Methodist church to the parish church, to replace equipment that was removed in 2013.

However, churchwarden Pam Swabey visited the council on Thursday to reiterate what parish priest Rev Peter Sharpe had already told members: that this would simply be too expensive and not wanted.

Mrs Swabey said: “The organ in the Methodist church is not suitable in many ways. It would cost £25,000 at least to dismantle and reassemble it in the parish church. But that wouldn’t solve the problem, because it would still need a huge amount of extra money spent to modify it.

“We [already] have a proper organ, with organ stops and pedals – it just doesn’t have the pipes. The old organ was removed because it wasn’t within anyone’s ability to repair. It had woodworm; there was nothing else to be done.”

Cornwall councillor Walter Sanger, also attending, said an organ specialist had been working for the last 18 months to find a suitable new home for the organ and had drawn a blank.

Regarding the parish church, he added: “There’s the matter of where it would fit within the church. It was said to me a couple of weeks ago at church, if it went anywhere it could go where the bells are – so it would be bells or organ perhaps.”

Council chairman David Lambrick said: “I think you’ll find a lot of people in this parish are very upset that the organ left the church and they would love to see an organ back.”

He asked if the council wanted him to get in touch with another independent organ specialist he knew.

However, councillor Bill Frisken pointed out: “The number of people going in the church has deteriorated enormously. On the first service on Christmas morning there were only a dozen people there. Unless people go as part of the congregation and contribute money on a regular basis there won’t be a church, never mind an organ.”

Councillor Anthony Richards acknowledged it was now “a bit of a pipe dream,” while councillor Sarah Lyne said “a lot of good can be done with £25,000”, adding: “If that’s not what the services require it’s a waste of money. I’m not sure it’s up to the parish council to say to the church how they should conduct their worship.”