A CHARITY which donated £90,000 for vital hospital equipment in just two years is facing a backdated VAT bill of up to £12,000.

For 51 years the League of Friends at Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, has sold tea, coffee and snacks to out-patients, staff and visitors.

Treasurer Marion Dicks, 71, said all profits were ploughed back into the hospital and spent on the likes of ECG monitors and over-the-bed trays. But because the league service is so popular, in 2004 it crossed the £57,000 threshold for paying back to HM Revenue and Customs. Now the government says it wants the money.

"It's demoralising that when you think 17.5 per cent of the takings are just going into the coffers of the government when we are trying to help the community. It's pretty galling," said Mrs Dicks. "It's hard for us to stomach and we feel let down."

She said the group's 180 volunteers freely gave their time to provide the service.

Now the league is calling for an amnesty on the VAT, which an accountant estimates would be between £10,000 and £12,000.

The league is now registered to pay VAT and must choose whether to raise prices or give proportionately less money to the hospital. Monmouth MP and AM David Davies wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, asking for the league to be excused.

He said: "The League of Friends has contributed tirelessly and selflessly to the running of Nevill Hall Hospital, and the fact that they may have to pay back-dated VAT fees will inevitably be a huge burden to them."

A Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust spokesman said: "The League of Friends has provided immense support to all our hospital over the years. "Patients and staff in a vast range of specialities have benefited enormously from their tireless fundraising."

A spokeswoman for HM Revenue and Customs refused to discuss individual cases, but said the amount any group should pay depended on its status.