World Animal Protection (WAP) paid one employee £231,732 last year in “exceptional payment of salary and statutory redundancy costs”, after deciding to close its Colombia office, according to its latest accounts.

WAP, which recently rebranded from World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), ended its operations in Colombia and Tanzania in 2013 and transferred the activities of those offices to Costa Rica and Kenya respectively.

The costs associated with the moves are partly responsible for the £500,000 increase in governance costs from £900,000 in 2012 to £1.4m last year, according the annual accounts.

The charity's total income was £27.9m, up 12 per cent from £25m the previous year. Almost all of the charity’s income comes from voluntary sources.

It spent £28.9m with £24.3m going on charitable activities.

The charity started fundraising in Thailand in 2011 and last year saw its income from the country go up by 26 per cent and contribute £2.9m to the overall figure.

The average number of full-time employees last year was 224 with 33 earning more than £60,000. Two unnamed employees earned up to £129,999 last year.