A MINISTER last night raised hopes that church pipe organs will not be subject to European laws stopping the dumping of hazardous electronic waste.

Organ builders across the continent, including Harrison and Harrison, in Durham City, fear the EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive will apply to them, though it was designed to stop pollution from heavy metals in electronic equipment, such as television sets and computers, dumped in landfill sites.

The firms fear they will be banned from making new organ pipes by an overzealous interpretation of the rules, because pipes are made from lead and the organs have electric blowers.

Their worry is that they will not be able to use lead, or will have to use metal with a reduced lead content, even though it is vital to the quality of an organ's sound and is usually reused rather than disposed of.

Trade and Industry Minister Malcolm Wickes told the House of Commons: "Our clear view is that pipe organs do not fall within the scope of this directive and that view is widely accepted within the EC.

"The Department for Trade and Industry is working closely with the EC and our aim is to reach a successful conclusion before the directive comes into force on July 1.

"Margot Wallstrom, the commissioner responsible for this legislation, and MEP Caroline Jackson, who chaired the environment committee of the European Parliament at the time, have both recently made public statements in agreement with this position.

"We must go through the proper process to get this sorted and there will be an important meeting in Brussels in the third week of June, at which I hope we can put an end to all this nonsense.

"We are absolutely determined to get this one right and I think very soon we will all be singing from the same hymn sheet."

Katherine Venning, from Harrison and Harrison, welcomed Mr Wickes' comments. She said: "At last the sun has come out; it is a good day. Our problems are not over yet because the threat from the directive is still there, but on the other hand, the British Government is on our side.

"We are such a small industry and we were not getting any help from the Government, but now we are on the same team."