They say unexpected high costs involved in purifying the water used in the feature has forced them to scrap the idea.

It was originally thought a £10,000 sponsorship grant could be used to pay for the scheme until estimated quotes came back at £65,000.

Further research into the idea had revealed extensive filtration and water treatment would be needed to avoid the threat of Legionnaires' disease.

Coun. Dorothy Lord said: "The idea originally came from the Colne in Bloom committee, who wanted to see a piece of public artwork at the precinct. We agreed on a water feature, and when I saw Lee Duerden, of XLCR, he said he'd fund it, which was brilliant.

"The idea was to just have water trickling out of the top and slowly down the sides - something nice and tranquil. But when we looked into it, we realised it would need a special pump and was going to cost around £60,000, so there was no way we had the money to do that."

Despite this, Mr Duerden and councillors on Colne and District Committee, which had also pledged £5,000 towards the scheme, have decided to go ahead with the works, introducing six stone spheres with LED colour-change lighting.