THE Women's Institute has been told members can’t have their cake and eat it at the Royal Albert Hall in London after a dispute over the sponsorship of cake boxes.

It is understood the WI were facing a bill of £2,500 after planning to dish up commemorative boxes of cake, cut up from 44 giant fruit cakes made by members from North Yorkshire and Northumberland.

The cakes, which have been a huge undertaking by the WI, were due to be given out at the organisation's huge Centenary celebration concert in June.

But the boxes, which were supposed to be left on the seat for each member to take home, had the names of sponsors on, and the Royal Albert Hall is understood to have asked for a fee of £2,500 because of its rules on the promotion of commercial products within the building.

Now instead of dishing up the boxes in the hall, it is believed they will be handed over outside instead for members to take home with them.

The 44 cakes were made by farmer's wife Anne Harrison from Wensleydale and Pat Tulip from Northumberland to a special recipe chosen following a competition won by Julie Clarke, from Coverdale, chairman of the WI’s North Yorks West Federation.

It took the bakers 11 days to make the 12 inch by 12 inch cakes, which are four inches deep and when divided up will be enough to provide a piece for all 5,000 members attending the centenary.

Mrs Harrison could not be contacted for comment, but another member told a national newspaper: "It seems rather petty.

"The WI is a charity and I would have thought the Albert Hall could have come to an amicable arrangement."

Part of the problem was that some of the ingredients were donated by companies including Dairy Crest, and Whitworth and their names had been put on the boxes, as part of moves to keep the costs down.

But the organisers did not realise that this contravened the Royal Albert Hall’s sponsorship rules, and they were told under the booking conditions extra fees are liable if products from commercial sponsors are promoted inside the building.

A spokesperson for the Royal Albert Hall said: "The hall charges a fee for sponsors’ commercial products to be promoted within the building.

"The Women’s Institute informed us that their requirements had changed and the product will no longer be consumed on the premises. Therefore no fee will apply."