CORRUPT customs officials took away at least a quarter of goods destined for Romanian orphans at the Romanian border, claims mercy mission organiser Mike Authers.

Speaking by phone from the south of the country to the Review, he said: "We managed to protect most of it but we were pretty annoyed by the time we were cleared. It is fairly obvious it is going for sale on the black market."

The Coleford man and his team of ten have already finished cleaning and refurbishing a hospital after making sure the remaining items of aid collected in the Forest reached its destination.

They are in the process of building an adventure playground for an orphanage but face an uphill struggle getting material like concrete locally.

"We keep getting promises but nothing arrives," he said. "We may have to construct the equipment and leave it for local people to finish."

He said he was also trying to whip up an enthusiastic and reliable support team for future runs to the area, where there was clearly much work to do.

Mike said he and and his team will soon be starting their return journey and looked forward to being home in the early part of September.