as long as your charger is working ok and the (if wet type) battery has fluid above the plates then you have just confirmed that your battery is scrap. Depending on how long ago you bought it, I would be talking to person you bought it from if battery was indeed supposed to be new with receipt.
It was the battery! After a couple of days of not using the bike, it reads 12.5V with a new battery fitted. In fact the cover was missing on 2 cells so no surprised it was reading 8V on the previous battery Thank you for your responses. Very helpful
