The bid to bring the Solheim Cup to The Oxfordshire Golf Club has been dealt a cruel blow by the Government - because it has a Scottish rival.

In a letter to the campaign team, sports minister Richard Caborn states the he cannot support The Oxfordshire's efforts to secure the ladies equivalent of the Ryder Cup, against a competing bid from another home nation.

But this is despite the Scottish bid securing support and funding from the Scottish Parliament.

David Walls, the perplexed sales and marketing director of Leaderboard, owners of The Oxfordshire, said he couldn't understand why Scotland can have national funding and support, but an English bid can't.

"It just doesn't seem fair that the Scottish First Minister can pledge support and funding for his country's bid and our government cannot support an English bid," he said "Whenever an English team get together to try and win the right to host a major sporting event, they are going to have their hands tied behind their back when the Scots enter the ring.

"We have put together a great bid for the Solheim Cup and our inspection went extremely well.

"We have committed a significant amount of money to back the bid - and I am very disappointed that an event which would give golf in the UK a massive boost is not getting the support we believe it deserves from the English government."

More than 100,000 spectators would be expected to watch global golf stars like Michelle Wie in action, while a massive TV audience would tune in.

Oxfordshire County Council has already pledged a small amount of financial suppor, as has the South East of England Development Agency, while the Oxford Mail is also backing the campaign.

The Oxfordshire is England's only bid, but faces tough competition from the Republic of Ireland, Norway, Northern Ireland, Italy and Spain, in addition to the nationally-backed Scottish campaign.

England has never hosted the Solheim Cup, but The Oxfordshire, owned privately by The Leaderboard Group - Paul and Jennifer Gibbons - is expected to contribute in excess of £1m to help to secure the event.

Now they seem to be battling alone against other nationally funded bids.

In his letter to The Oxfordshire team, Caborn explained: "We have spoken with officials at UK Sport and I understand that a number of Home Countries are now confirmed as bidding to stage the event.

"Therefore, it would not be appropriate for me to support one bid over another of these countries, in line with UK Sport's policy."

Paul Gibbons said: "I find it hard to understand why there is not the political will to bring an event like this to England.

"We have shown with our investment that we are serious about sport and serious about our commitment to the growth of ladies golf in the UK - but it seems that we are on our own with our financial commitment."