Arson-hit Eynsham Cricket Club loses third VAT bill appeal

Former PM David Cameron offered to raise Eynsham Cricket Club's troubles with his chancellor George Osborne

A village cricket club has lost a third legal battle over the cost of replacing a pavilion that was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.

Eynsham Cricket Club (ECC) in Oxfordshire has battled for six years over a £35,000 VAT bill.

The Appeal Court said ECC should not be treated as a charity and made exempt, in a ruling which the court said had "wider significance" for amateur clubs.

The club said it was disappointed and would consider a further appeal.

The previous pavilion was destroyed by fire in 2012 but a new one was built three years later at a cost of nearly £177,000.

The club challenged the additional VAT bill, arguing that as a community amateur sports club it should be treated in a same way as charities.

The former pavilion was destroyed in a suspected arson attack

It said its local MP, David Cameron, who was UK prime minister at the time, agreed to raise the case with his chancellor George Osborne.

However, two tribunals ruled in 2017 and 2019 that the club was not a charity for financial purposes.

The Appeal Court agreed and also dismissed the club's case that its treatment was incompatible with European Union law.

The judgement said: "The amount at stake on this appeal is modest... but the point of principle raised has wider significance for other cases involving local and community-based sports clubs."

ECC president Richard Lake said the club had lost on a "finely-judged question of law".

He said the money would have been a "great fillip" to the club, which was about £25,000 in debt to its supporters.

Mr Lake added: "Last year was a near-financial disaster. Only grants and donations have kept us afloat."