Council apologises over £300 charge for Poppy Appeal Chesterfield town centre pitch – issued “by mistake”

The council says the charge for the Remembrance Day stall was “referenced by mistake” and the charity would not in fact be charged and it had contacted the Royal British Legion (RBL) since about the gaff.

This week a Derbyshire Times reader got in touch, having been informed of the £300 tariff by irate RBL volunteers. Speaking about the charge, she said: “I think it's scandalous and disgusting that the council would do this – It’s for two weeks and is run by volunteers."

A volunteer who did not want to be named said the RBL had been running a stall at the same site for over 25 years and he and other volunteers could not “believe it”. He said: “We’ve never ever come across this before – we all think it’s appalling. It’s a disgrace.”

After being contacted by the Derbyshire Times a spokesperson for Chesterfield Borough Council said it was an “admin” mistake.

They added: “We must offer our sincere apologies to the Royal British Legion, as regrettably this charge was referenced by mistake and does not apply. We are contacting the charity and wishing them well with their fund-raising activities in the Pavements Shopping Centre.

“We are proud to support a range of annual Remembrance Day activities across our borough and we are deeply sorry for any upset which has been caused by this error.”