A MOUNTAIN of donations for victims of the Nepal earthquakes is gathering dust in a church warehouse after the country's government introduced taxes of up to 30 per cent on relief material.

Organisers of a Catterick Garrison-based appeal to provide aid to victims of the natural disasters said they were heartbroken that about half of the goods collected - about ten tonnes of items - remained at the Hollybush Christian Fellowship, near Northallerton, a month after they were due to be delivered.

Executive member of the British Ghurkha and Nepalese Community Jagannath Sharma, principal physiotherapist at the garrison's Infantry Training Centre, said the appeal's organisers had been heartbroken by the donations not reaching where they were desperately needed.

Dr Sharma said: "Everybody is donating because they want to get the right aid to the right people at the right time."

Another appeal organiser, who asked not to be named, said tonnes of other donations from Catterick Garrison had been shipped to the Red Cross in India, but had not been moved to Nepal because of the taxes.

He said: "It is very disappointing. People donated goods out of the goodness of their hearts not expecting the Nepalese government to try and make money out of it.

"We are facing a very substantial tax bill to get these goods to people who need them at a time that Nepal's monsoon season is drawing closer and the hundreds of thousands of homeless people need to prepare."

He said Nepalese people at the garrison had also raised about £20,000 for earthquake victims, but were adamant that the country's government, which has been ranked among the world's most corrupt, would not receive any of it.

The appeal was launched in the wake of the earthquakes which killed more than 7,000 people and destroyed or badly damaged more than 350,000 homes.

Aid agencies have voiced mounting frustration over taxes being levied at Nepal's borders, while police have been reported to have stopped trucks loaded with supplies by private well-wishers headed to badly hit areas.

Dr Sharma called on the international community to put pressure on the Nepalese government to lift taxes.

He said the Nepalese government needed to work alongside aid agencies to ensure aid reached where it was needed.

A Nepalese Embassy spokesman said the relief taxes of between 15 and 30 per cent, depending on the type of good, had been introduced as its government felt it was in the best position to coordinate the humanitarian effort and prevent aid being duplicated.

He said donations sent to the Nepalese government and aid agencies would be exempt from tax.

An Oxfam spokesman said it was continuing to deliver relief items in a number of ways including by air, overland from India and by sourcing them in Nepal itself.

He said the Nepalese government had reinstated some customs duties it waived after the earthquakes, but these did not apply to some priority items like tents and tarpaulin.

He added: "Oxfam's top priority is to ensure lifesaving aid gets to those who need it most as soon as possible."