An unholy row has broken out among members of Meneage Methodists over the closure of St Martin's chapel.

Church leaders have decided to shut St Martin Chapel and solely use Manaccan Chapel as a place of worship from the beginning of April.

The two congregations officially joined to become Meneage Methodists in September 2004 and have been alternating between buildings a month at a time.

Reasons for the impending closure at St Martin were given as rising maintenance costs and a dwindling congregation.

Meneage minister the Rev Beverly Turner was quoted in the parish newsletter, the Meneage Messenger: "The youth work is going strong and with a vision for the future involving the youngsters it was felt that Manaccan, which is in better condition and more adaptable, would probably best suit our future needs."

This week, however, St Martin residents have been quick to point out that this was not strictly true - highlighting a survey compiled on both chapels - and the Rev Turner claiming she was "misquoted" in the newsletter.

She said that she had in fact been referring to Manaccan Chapel's church hall being in a better condition. The Rev Turner told the Packet on Monday: "In terms of the actual chapels themselves - the physical structure condition of them - there is not a massive amount of difference between them."

She explained that Manaccan Chapel was a smaller building and was better suited to the needs of the congregation.

One of the benefits was that as the building didn't have rising pews - as St Martin does - then it would be easier to remove seating in order to create a more "usable space" if necessary.

The smaller size would mean less maintenance and running costs also. This was accompanied by Manaccan having a larger church hall in better condition to that of St Martin, which was "in quite a bad state."

The Packet has been contacted by St Martin church steward Michael Boaden, who said that there was "uproar" in St Martin over the decision to close the St Martin chapel.

He pointed to the community events that took place in the chapel's hall, including seasonal events such as summer fetes and Christmas bazaars, in addition to the weekly junior club meetings that see over 30 youngsters from the village meeting each week.

Mr Boaden also referred to a surveyor's report carried out on both buildings, which he said highlighted the fact that St Martin Chapel was in a better condition and required "less immediate expenditure" than Manaccan Chapel - although the report continued that neither building required major expenditure as a priority.

The report prompted Mr Boaden to ask: "Why shut a chapel which is in a better condition?"

The Rev Turner told the Packet that the findings were true "to a certain extent," saying: "If we were going to do absolutely everything that the survey had said would need doing to get it in tip top condition then we would spend about £10,000 more at Manaccan than at St Martin." But she continued that it was unlikely that all the work was going to happen or even needed to be carried out in the immediate future.

The Rev Turner said she sympathised with the people of St Martin, adding: "It's a very difficult situation. There is inevitably pain for those seeing the chapel they have worshipped in for so many years closing. I do sympathise immensely."

But she continued: "On the other hand I am seeing people who are catching a vision that God is doing something at Meneage and they are getting very excited. Balancing the pain is that something is going to happen and we are going to be part of it."

She added that an "awful lot of prayer" had gone into the decision. "I have personally felt for many months God saying Manaccan should be kept open. But it is the church council's decision," she said.