A Kingston charity is still waiting to be paid £27,000 raised at a charity auction celebrating its 10th anniversary two months ago.

Momentum, which supports children with life-limiting illnesses such as cancer and their families, has been waiting for weeks on charity auctioning company Bidtech to pay up.

It was the first time they had used the company, which describes itself as “the European leader in charity auction technology”, allowing auctioneers to use iPads to place bids.

Momentum co-founder Bianca Effemey said: “A lot of money is at stake - many auction prizes are from local people - and as a charity one feels responsible for this and responsible for the loss of any funds that people have kindly donated.

“People only give auction prizes because they want to help a charity, not to fund anything else.

“This year is our 10th anniversary and in many ways it has been so positive.

"I do hope we can put this sorry case behind us as soon as possible and concentrate on what we do best – which is to support sick children and their families."

The charity based in Park Road, Kingston first broke the news on Twitter to its followers on Monday night.

It tweeted: "NEWS, we haven't received our auction money from May Event (over £27k). ALL CHARITIES BEWARE DO NOT USE @BidTech & @pauljcunniff."

The tweet directly to the company and its director was deleted the following day.

According to its website, Manchester-based Bidtech’s previous clients include Children in Need, Unicef and NSPCC.

A spokeswoman from Momentum said they had been happy with the company’s service at the event but added: “Momentum has sent numerous emails and made countless phone calls to Bidtech, many of which have not been answered”.

The Surrey Comet has made unsuccessful efforts to contact Bidtech by phone, email and tweeting its director Paul Cuniff.

Mrs Effemey said: "My advice to other charities is that having an iPad action system for a charity auction is worth investigating but that the taking of the proceeds for the event should stay and be managed by the charity and not an outside entity."