The proposed extension to the co-cathedral museum will not go ahead if the technical studies indicate any possible danger, the co-cathedral foundation said.

The St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation was replying to an item that appeared on The Times about fears that the proposed extension will damage the co-cathedral's structure.

The €16 million project proposes building an underground museum, about five storeys deep, to store the prized Rubens tapestries. But the project was highly criticised, with many organisations concerned about the potential damage to the co-cathedral.

The item also criticised the absence of a geological study in the project description statement. Foundation president Mgr Philip Calleja said that the report did refer to geological studies and also included a reference to alternative buildings.

"We have made it very clear that we are not prepared to take any risks and if any technical and scientific studies indicate any possible danger to the co-cathedral, the foundation will not proceed with the project," Mgr Calleja said.

He insisted that the foundation received EU funds for the museum's extension because it had submitted a detailed and technical report.

The foundation had applied for EU funding after a public call was made, Mgr Calleja said, adding that the technical report was in line with the required regulations governing the structural funds programme.

He said the foundation was waiting for the conclusions of a professional environmental impact assessment before making its final decision on the proposed project.

Mgr Calleja said the foundation could not understand why it should be penalised because it "had vision and was planning ahead to avert visitors' damage to the co-cathedral rather than react after the damage was done".