A highbrow Wimbledon charity under investigation for allegations of misconduct has lost its prestigious contract to continue running the Cannizaro Park Theatre Festival.

The Cannizaro Park Theatre Trust which has run the open-air festival for the past three years has not had its annual contract renewed by Merton Council, who instead awarded it to Wimbledon Theatre.

As reported last month, the Charity Commission is conducting an inquiry into allegations of misconduct and abuse of the Trusts charitable status.

It is claimed the organisation based in Raynes Park is run not as a charity, but as a business.

The commission is investigating claims the trustees of the charity are benefiting financially from the successful event and the profits are going to promoters Classical Management, who were brought in to help run the festival.

The Charity Commission has confirmed it is conducting an informal investigation into the claims following a complaint made against the Trust.

Both Classical Management and The Cannizaro Park Theatre Trust vehemently deny the allegations and say the inquiry has been sparked by a poison pen letter campaign against them.

When contacted by the News, this week charity trustee Carol Prigent was unaware the contract had been awarded to Wimbledon Theatre.

She said: All I have to say is we are very, very disappointed.

The four-week spectacular which has previously attracted acts such as the String of Pearls Orchestra, Lindisfarne, Courtney Pine and acts from Jongleurs is one of the most prominent events in the boroughs calendar and attracts around 13,000 visitors each year.

Merton Council confirmed the Trust had put in a bid for this years contract, but denied it had been declined because of the controversy surrounding the charity.

A spokesman said: Wimbledon Theatre was awarded the contract through the councils tendering procedure. Tender packs were sent out to all interested companies with an outline of the criteria the council was looking for.

All submitted tenders were scored against these criteria and the contract was awarded to the company that scored the highest, this was Wimbledon Theatre.

We are aware the Charity Commission is investigating the Cannizaro Park Theatre Trust, but it did not change the outcome of the tender scoring process.

The investigation into the Trust continues. A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: The commission has had no involvement in the issue of contracts.

We will be discussing all issues at a meeting with trustees in the near future.