HOSPICE chiefs took their campaign to recover money trapped in a failed bank to the heart of Government.

Trustees of Naomi House children’s hospice held talks in London with Kevin Brennan, Minister for the Third Sector, who is the Government’s charity supremo.

Khalid Aziz, who chairs the hospice in Sutton Scotney, was encouraged by the meeting.

He said: “I think we were able to outline a compelling case for the hospice and the work that it does.

“The minister said he would be speaking to the Health Minister about it, and more importantly, the Treasury, and my hope is that we might hear something from him in a couple of weeks’ time.

“I think we made it very clear how important Naomi House is to the community.”

The trustees went armed with a petition signed by 7,600 people calling for Westminster to act.

The charity had £5.7m – nearly 40 per cent of its funds – frozen when the Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander Bank collapsed in Iceland in October.