The bizarre world of rock 'n' roll has always been known for grand gestures, but even Spinal Tap never tried this.

Passers-by watched in awe as a full-size grand piano was winched 50ft into the air over the roof of a two-storey house.

With a gentle swing the instrument was gently squeezed through a patio door and into its new home in the coach-house studio of Jethro Tull's former keyboard player David Palmer.

Mr Palmer moved to Hove two years ago from his country house in Surrey.

The £15,000 Yamaha instrument - which he played on the group's best-selling Heavy Horses LP in 1978 - has been in storage ever since.

He said: "It was really exciting to watch but personally quite nerve-wracking as well. There was quite a crowd gathered by the end."

Mr Palmer had the set of patio doors specially-fitted to the first-floor studio in preparation for yesterday's move.

He said: "It's going to stay wrapped up there for a couple of months so it can acclimatise to the temperature in the studio. Then I'm looking forward to playing it again."

Jethro Tull were a legendary folk-rock band, whose worldwide album sales have just tipped the 60 million mark.

But Mr Palmer said the group rarely lived up to their image as the wild men of rock.

He said: "After every gig, whether it was some smoky club or Madison Square Garden, we would go back to the hotel and play cards. We had a tournament running through the tours."

Mr Palmer was a lecturer in music at Trinity College, London, before he joined then band full-time in the Seventies.

He still enjoys playing rock music and his group, David Palmer, is launching a tour later this year.