MUCH as I sympathise with the concerns of the Country Land and Business Association over VAT charges on alterations to listed buildings (Journal, May 10), their problem is nowhere near as serious as the utterly illogical tax on repairs to ancient monuments.

For example, the volunteers who are trying to raise the £100,000 bill for underpinning Pershore Abbey, a national heritage site, face a VAT charge of £20,000 – that’s the equivalent of a quarterly jumble sale for 10 years, just to pay the tax man!

We should write to David Roberts at the VAT projects team, 100 Parliament Street, London SW1A 2BQ to complain before May 18.

I’m using the slogan STAB – Stop Taxing Ancient Buildings, plus a picture of an abbey with a VAT knife stuck in it.

COLIN REEVES, Pershore