A wildlife sanctuary which spent only seven per cent of its apparent income on charitable works has had talks with the Charity Commission on how to improve its performance.

Accounts for Wildlife Rescue Sanctuaries, based in Keighley, show it spent more than £220,000 of its income of £257,000 in 2012 on generating funds.

The Charity Commission has met with the trustees due to concerns over the relatively small amount the sanctuary was able to spend on charitable activities last year.

Some £18,000 went on charitable activities and £19,651 was spent on staff costs.

The previous set of books for 2011 showed £80,000 of its £113,000 income went on fundraising costs, £7,600 was spent on helping animals and £2,987 went on staff costs.

Marianne Crowley, the founder and a trustee of the wildlife sanctuary, said: “To be honest, all this has made me ill. “I’m out saving animals at all times, day and night, and have only just had my first holiday in ten years.

“We handed over our fundraising to professional fundraisers who go into shops on our behalf.

“We then have to pay them and their collectors wages and only get a very small percentage back.

“All the money that came in to the charity has gone out again and is accounted for.”

Mrs Crowley said the wildlife hospital unit at Springfield Mills, off Oakworth Road, had rescued more than 250 animals since it opened in May.

And she stressed the money the organisation received from its fundraisers was a lifeline and it could not continue to operate without it.

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: “We have met the trustees and are continuing to work with them to ensure that our concerns are properly addressed.”