A DROITWICH Spa woman is devastated that money collected at her husband's funeral will not reach the charity closest to his heart.

Furious Nancy Harrison claims it was not made clear donations made during the service at St Nicholas' would not go to the Poppy Appeal but to church funds instead.

Her husband William, known to many as Bill, was an ex-serviceman and a long-standing committee member of Droitwich Spa Royal British Legion.

She says he would have wanted the money to go to the Poppy Appeal, not to the church's building fund.

"It is a good job my husband was not alive - he would have been very cross!"

The Ombersley Road widow says the truth did not emerge until she received a statement letter from funeral director George Crump and Sons last week.

The letter said the Appeal would be receiving just £70 worth of cheques specifically made out to the charity.

"If I thought that was the final figure, including cash I would have been devastated.

"I know the plate had a lot more money on it," said Mrs Harrison.

"There were a lot of British Legion people there and they would have expected their money to go to the Appeal."

She said Reverend Andrew White led the service back in August and is also the chaplain for the Spa's British Legion.

"He would have known this is where the money was meant for," she claimed.

Mr White visited 87-year-old Bill in hospital before he died and had been a close friend of the couple for many years.

"This is a very difficult situation. Mrs Harrison is going through an awful lot of grief at the moment and I would see this as part of that," he said.

Mr White says under national church policy, money put on the plate goes to the church fund, unless otherwise arranged.

He explained the church regularly has collections for charities varying from the Poppy Appeal to the Children's Society but this was not possible all of the time as maintenance costs need to be met.

He plans to have some cards printed to put on the church plate to let people know where their donations are going.