British donations for victims of the Nepal earthquakes are stuck at Catterick Garrison because of tax restrictions imposed by the country's government.

Ten tonnes of everyday items, from men's shoes to sleeping bags and cooking utensils, is holed up at a church warehouse after Nepal put an income tax of up to 30 per cent on relief goods.

Officials claim the tax is necessary so the government can co-ordinate relief efforts but critics say they are simply 'cashing in' on the crisis.

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Aid mountain: As monsoon season approaches in Nepal, 10 tonnes of useful aid is gathering dust in a warehouse Hollybush Christian Fellowship

The aid was gathered following April's devastating 7.8-magnitude quake which killed more than 8,000 people, flattened entire villages and left hundreds of thousands homeless in the region.

Organisers behind the Catterick Garrison-based appeal said they were heartbroken that about half of the items collected were still at the Hollybush Christian Fellowship, near Northallerton, a month after they were due to be delivered.

Dr Jagannath Sharma, executive member of the British Ghurkha and Nepalese Community, was devastated the donations were not reaching those in need.

'Everybody is donating because they want to get the right aid to the right people at the right time,' he said.

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 so the aid can be distributed. If not, those behind the relief effort said they had 'no idea' what will happen to the items.

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Desperate: A woman carries her young son in a sling with fallen buildings creating a mountain in the background in the Sindhupalchowk district, an example of the people desperately in need of the aid stuck at Catterick

Appeal: Organisers hope the international community will put pressure on the Nepalese government to lift taxes on relief

Devastated: People were left with nothing following the deadly quakes which killed thousands and left thousands more homeless

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.

They called for the Nepalese government to work alongside aid agencies to ensure aid reached where it was needed.

In need: Women walk past a building which is perilously teetering in the Sindhupalchowk district in Nepal, following the second quake

Nothing left: Many Nepalese people are still waiting for aid to reach them more than a month after the earthquakes struck. Critics say the Nepalese government is cashing in on the crisis by introducing a 30% tax for relief

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.