THE monks behind Buckfast should lose charitable status over high profits and public harm, the National Secular Society (NSS) has claimed.

The NSS is calling on the Charity Commission to “investigate the appropriateness” of Buckfast Abbey Trust’s tax break, claiming its activities breach guidelines drawn up for charitable organisations.

The Devon-based Buckfast Abbey Trust made a record £8.8 million last year, largely through the sale of the caffeinated beverage dubbed “wreck the hoose juice” in Scotland.

However, it does not pay tax on income from these sales due to its special status and the NSS claims this is an “abuse of the charitable system”.

In its annual report, the trust claims its mission is “the advancement of the Roman Catholic religion”. But, in a letter to the regulator, the NSS claims its activities “fall short of the requirement to act in the public’s benefit”.

Executive director Keith Porteous Wood wrote: “To be granted charitable status is a secular reward, where a grateful public grants favourable tax treatment to an organisation due to the good works carried out for the benefit of all.

“Where harm outweighs the good or where the good is simply not good enough, public confidence in supporting charities risks being undermined.

“We therefore request that the Commission investigates the appropriateness of Buckfast Abbey Trust maintaining its charitable status.”

The drink has been made by the Benedictine order at the rural site since the 1920s and is distributed by its trading arm J Chandler, which has a staff of around 30 people, according to 2016 returns.

They earned an average of around £145,000 that year, with directors fees in 2013 exceeding £2.5m.

The NSS has raised concerns about the use of charitable status to lead to private gain and the retention of reserves running into many millions of pounds.

According to a 2015 survey by the Scottish Prison Service, almost half of offenders consumed Buckfast, also known as “commotion lotion”, before their last offence.

In December, one sheriff in Dundee said there was a “very definite association between Buckfast and violence” when sentencing a man who smashed a bottle of the drink over a child’s head at a 15th birthday party.

Wood wrote: “There is documented proof over several decades of the wine being drunk irresponsibly and criminal damage being the result, without any action from the charity to curb the problem.

“The usual excuse given is distribution is not managed by the trust but as the largest shareholder in J Chandler (Buckfast), with seats on the board and being the primary supplier to it this claim does not stand up.

“The shareholding was justified originally as allowing control of the brand but this is clearly not being carried out.”

NSS vice-president Alistair McBay told the BBC: “The monks should be setting an example as a religious organisation but the opposite is happening.”

“The question needs to be asked ‘Are they serving God or Mammon?’”

Buckfast Abbey Trust has defended its product and activities despite sustained criticism over the years, including a 2005 bid to ban the drink in Scotland, which prompted a spike in sales.

It reacted with surprise to the NSS letter and said it would contact the Charity Commission.

A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said it took “all complaints about registered charities seriously”.

The body stated that it would “seek further information about concerns raised about the governance” of the Buckfast Abbey Trust charity in an effort to “determine whether there is a regulatory role for the commission”.