Cancer Research UK saw its revenue rise by 5 per cent in the year to March 2015, according to its latest set of accounts.

The charity had a total income of £634.9m, but this includes a £14.1m exceptional gain from the decision to close the pension scheme and book the existing surplus.

Last year the charity had a total income of £665.5m, but this included an exceptional capital item - £76m from the sale of the charity’s research laboratory in London.

Ignoring these exceptional figures, the charity’s income rose from £589.5m to £620.8m – the first time it has been over £600m.

Income from fundraising was the principal source of funding for the charity, and rose faster than overall income, increasing by 7 per cent to £522m.

The charity had a £23.7m surplus on the year and ended the year with reserves of £307m, equivalent to just under six months’ expenditure.

CRUK increased full-time equivalent staff numbers by 166 to 3,964 employees during the year. The number of members of staff earning over £60,000 rose from 195 to 219.

The highest paid member of staff, believed to be chief executive Harpal Kumar, earned between £240,000 and £250,000.