THE activities of a children's cancer charity with offices in York have been suspended in an investigation into its financial affairs.

The bank accounts of the national Moonbeams Children's Cancer Charity, which provides holidays for cancer patients and their families, have been frozen by the Scottish Charities Office (SCO).

The charity, which has headquarters in Edinburgh, also has offices in High Petergate and bought a three-bedroom house in Osbaldwick Lane, in 1999, to act as a home for visiting families to have a week-long break in York.

The Scottish Charities Office today confirmed that action had been taken to suspend directors of the charity on October 14.

A spokeswoman said the office was looking at how cash raised to help patients and their families had been used during the last four years.

She said: "The directors have 21 days in which to appeal against the terms of the petition. They can come back and dispute it. If they do, a court date will then be set for a civil trial. If they don't, the SCO will go back to court and they will be removed permanently."

It is believed the charity had paid for Gayle's House in York, which had increased in value by 95 per cent, according to Moonbeams' accounts.

The directors, named in a petition by the SCO in court, all live in Scotland. The SCO has powers to act in cases where there is evidence of alleged misconduct or mismanagement. Administrator Bill Cleghorn said he was aware that families were booked in to use the charity's York home and said he would be making every effort to ensure those bookings were honoured.

Eira and Len Brocklehurst, aged 52 and 53, from Hyde, Greater Manchester, whose 21-year-old daughter, Shelley, has an inoperable brain tumour, were at the house when the Evening Press called.

Mrs Brocklehurst said: "This is the first time in four years that we have been able to come away together. It's only right that we look after our daughter, but we all need our space. We couldn't have afforded to come away without this help.

"It really would be sad if it (the charity) all fell through. We called into the charity office in York but there was nobody there. We just wanted to introduce ourselves. We only contacted them six months ago and they have been a Godsend."

Updated: 11:27 Monday, October 27, 2003