A PRICELESS chandelier could be lit for the last time following months of debate about its future.

The wooden piece has been the subject of lengthy discussions with councillors over whether it should be removed to be preserved.

The piece, which adorns the chapel at the Kirkleatham Almshouses, near Redcar, east Cleveland, is acknowledged by experts to be the most valuable gilded wood chandelier still in private ownership anywhere in the UK.

But the trustees fear it will eventually become a worthless piece of carved wood.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council insists that the chandelier be kept in the chapel, where it continues to deteriorate at the mercy of the changing climate.

And the trustees wish to replace it with a brass chandelier of the same age and have the wooden one placed where it can be properly conserved.

The annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at Sir William Turner's Almshouses will see the candles lit once again.

But it could be for the last time if an agreement is made about the chandelier's future.

"We do not know how much longer we can continue to light it," said Peter Sotheran, chairman of the trustees, who are responsible for the 17th Century almshouses.

"The service of lessons and carols is one of the rare occasions when we feel it is worth taking the risk of lighting the 12 candles in their elegantly carved and gilded brackets.

"Otherwise it hangs there, unseen and unused from one year's end to the next," said Mr Sotheran, who received an MBE from the Queen this week for his work on behalf of the almshouses.

The gilded wood feature was made especially for the home of a wealthy Londoner in 1721. Later, it was bought by the family of Sir William Turner at a knock down price of three guineas (£3.15) at a bankruptcy auction and moved to Kirkleatham.

Now nearly 300 years old, the wood is splitting and the chandelier is beginning to disintegrate.

The service of lessons and carols, conducted by the Reverend Chris Greenwood, takes place tomorrow, at 7pm, in the Almshouses Chapel. Guests are asked to be seated by 6.50pm.