A charity which raises money to buy equipment for Epsom Hospital has been told to move from its space at the facility.

The Epsom Medical Equipment Fund (EMEF) says it has raised more than £5 million to purchase some of the most “up-to-date” technology during the past 40 years.

But they are now searching for a new area to operate within the hospital after being asked to move by Epsom and St Helier hospitals’ trust before the end of this month.

A statement by EMEF, run by Bess Harding MBE, claims this is due to ongoing land and building sales but the trust says this is because of fire safety fears.

EMEF said: “Due to the proposed sale of land and buildings at Epsom General Hospital, the trust has told us to vacate both our storage and shop facilities by the end of this month.

“Due to the lack of space, we are not being provided with alternative accommodation. As a result, we need to decrease bonus stock, the money for which will go towards the purchase of equipment for Epsom General Hospital.

“Equipment is purchased by EMEF, which has bought close to £5 million [worth] of items, such as the CT scanner, various ultrasound machines, endoscopes, x-ray machines, and pathology equipment speeding up diagnosis in what will be our 40th year in 2019.”

However, the trust believes they have reached an impasse with the charity for a problem that's apparently been ongoing for nearly a decade.

Chief executive Daniel Elkeles said, despite the news, they will continue to “actively promote and support” all EMEF’s fundraising activities – including their car boot sale in the hospital’s car park.

He added: “However, after facilitating many years of negotiations between the fire service and the charity, the fire officer has informed us that the way in which the fund trades in this area – using the corridor as an informal extension of the retail space – is a significant fire risk and must be vacated.

“This is something that we have tried to resolve numerous times in the past, and we now have no option but to remove the retail area.

“We are sorry that the fund will no longer be able to trade from this space, but the health and safety of our patients, staff and volunteers is our absolute priority and we cannot compromise it.”

Mr Elkeles continued that EMEF can still use the current storage space on the hospital’s ground floor of the Wells Wing, having “offered our support in making any necessary moves”.

He went on to add that the portable building the charity has used is “not a suitable NHS hospital site” and the area surrounding it is being redeveloped.

EMEF will be holding two fundraising events, on February 4 and 6, to raise further money for the hospital.

They will be held at the Ashley Centre from 9.30am to 4.30pm, selling a variety of hand-knitted items and including a toy tombola.