HUNDREDS of outraged pasty eaters have been signing petitions in bakeries all over Cornwall in a bid to make the government think again about its proposals to charge VAT on the county's most famous hot food.

VAT of 20 per cent would add at least 40p or more on the price of the average pasty when sold hot or on any pasty that has not cooled beneath the 'ambient temperature'.

The petitions, expected to reach thousands of signatures, will be delivered to No 10 Downing Street in May, by The Master Bakers' Association, before the short consultation period on the proposal ends.

South East Cornwall MP Sheryll Murray has written to the Chancellor George Osborne.

In her letter she asks: 'Who is going to monitor the ambient against pasty temperature? Surely the last thing we need is to employ an army of thermometer-wielding tax inspectors poking our pasties to see if they have cooled enough! The tax is ill thought-out.'

Andrew Hallett, director of well-known pasty makers Barnecutts, whose first outlet was in Liskeard, said the company had dropped petitions against the tax into all ten of their shops on Tuesday. 'At Bodmin alone we had 600 signatures by 4pm,' he said.

In Liskeard, manager Kay Bawden said they had filled at least five sheets of names and were expecting hundreds more as the campaign grows.

'Things are tough for a lot of people so we will be looking at how best we can serve our customers,' said Mr Hallett. 'We will be thinking about selling pasties as chilled raw or frozen raw at considerably lower prices, or cold cooked at the standard rate or with VAT added for hot. We will be finding out what our customers want.' Barnecutts has 200 staff, two-thirds of which are full-time.

'This pasty tax could have a knock-on effect, and with all the extra administration involved it could have consequences for our staffing levels,' he said.

In Looe, Phil Gibson of Palfreys, which has two shops in Looe, one in Polperro and one in Saltash, runs a staff of 22 full- and part-time workers, and says he is already fearing for their jobs.

'I charge £1.90 for a medium pasty which will rise to £2.38 with VAT, and large sales will be affected because they will cost more than £3,' he said.

'These are massive increases. Hen eggs have also doubled in price because of the new European rulings on battery production. Also here in Looe, as elsewhere, we have already seen a drop in footfall due to Cornwall Council's increased car parking charges. VAT on pasties could be the final nail in the coffin for a lot of small retailers.

'I can't continue to float like this and have stopped my plans for expansion. I won't be able to trade with the level of staff I have now on a reduced income. I fear for my staff,' he said.

Mr Palfrey added that it was urgent that the council should re-think its parking policy. 'With all the extra expenditures being piled on to us, including the threat of VAT on pasties, plus less people coming into the town because of the parking hikes, there will soon be no high streets left, and a big fall in the council's business rate income.'