A Sunday car boot sale which raises money for hospital equipment has been given the boot from its home in Epsom Hospital.

Bess Harding, who has raised nearly £3million for the equipment charity and has received an MBE for the effort, received a letter from Epsom and St Helier telling her she could no longer hold the car boot sale at the hospital's staff car park.

"They said that security at the hospital can be compromised by the car boot sale and that visitors using the hospital toilets meant replenishing the soap and the toilet paper. They also said that they thought stolen goods were being sold there, but the stalls are either charities or people who have cleared out their houses," she said.

The news came as a blow to Mrs Harding who said that during the 29 years she has been moved from a shop in the hospital to a stand in the corridor and eventually into the car park.

"I think its sad the public are going to lose out on our ability to raise money for hospital equipment," she said.

Equipment the charity has bought include a CT scanner, a mammography unit and items for the A&E department. They belong to the charity but are for the exclusive use of Epsom Hospital.

Geoff Martin of London Health Emergency slammed the move.

"A charity that has raised nearly £3 million for essential medical equipment is being banned from hospital premises because they may have used a few quids worth of toilet paper and hot water. It is an absolute disgrace," he said.

A spokesman for the hospital said the move was not financial and that they would make efforts to find an alternative location for the event.

"We have banned car boot sales for a number of reasons, including the disruption the sales were causing to the running of the hospitals, in particular problems for patients, visitors and staff who needed to park on site on the day of the sales," he said.