Dobbies has made a dramatic U-turn and dropped a controversial plan to charge charities up to £400 a week to collect donations in its stores...

The garden centre business has been attacked by charity bosses over the money-making scheme with fundraisers fearing they would be driven out by the charge.

Dobbies has now reversed the policy and said it will now “not be charging charities for renting promotional space."

The U-turn has been hailed by opponents outraged at the levy.

One charity, which asked not to be named, claimed Dobbies wanted £400 a week – or £200 for weekends – to allow charities to collect from shoppers on their premises.

Dobbies has declined to disclose the exact charges it was touting.

A charity spokesman said he did not think it was right charities should face handing over such huge sums – simply for using Dobbies’ shopfloor.

He said: “I don’t suppose customers making donations would be happy to know half their money was going to the store. We’d never heard of such charges before and were quite shocked. On a good weekend you might collect £400 so they were effectively asking for half.”

Tin-rattling former serviceman Tom Gilzean, who has collected £100,000 for the Sick Kids hospital, branded charging for charity collecting ­“disgraceful”.

The 93-year-old said: “I’d give up collecting before paying charges. Charity is charity and no-one else should be taking it away. I think it’s sheer greed. It’s wrong and they must be out of their box.”

Colin Flinn, head of fundraising at Poppyscotland, was equally aghast at the hidden charge. He questioned the need for it and said: “The support we have received from shopping and garden centres over the years is vitally important to the overall funds raised.

“We would question any suggestion of introducing charges for collections as it would have serious implications for our fundraising and, ultimately, the support we are able to provide for veterans and their families.”

Gordon Henderson, senior development manager with the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “I find charging charities for collecting very surprising. I would very much hope no small business would do so.”

A Dobbies spokesman said: “The Dobbies Community Plan is at the heart of everything we do and a large part of this involves fundraising work with our local and national charity partners. Dobbies is proud to have raised over £300,000 for our nominated charities this financial year and we will continue to focus our fundraising efforts on this.”

Dobbies was selling access to its centres through a Glasgow-based body called Space and People, which markets promotional space in shopping venues. A spokeswoman for the organisation said it has become “common practice” in the retail industry to charge charities who want to use “high footfall venues” for fundraising.