There are Some of the country's biggest charities have been branded an 'utter disgrace' after a new report claimed one in five spend less than half of their income on good causes.

The report, alleges that 1,020 voluntary organisations - with a combined annual income of £6billion - spend half or less of their cash on good work, including the British Heart Foundation and Age UK.

Nearly 300 spend just 10 per cent - and The Lloyd's Register Foundation uses only one per cent of the money, according to the explosive document.

Many charities disputed the figures in the report released today by the True and Fair Foundation - deeming them 'totally misleading. But Gina Miller, founder of the True and Fair Foundation said in a statement, 'It is an utter disgrace that so much of the money people generously give is going to feed large charity machines, which are often characterised by obscene overheads and salaries, aggressive fundraising, and bloated marketing and publicity departments; resulting in questionable levels of charitable spending. The report claims that Cancer Research UK and The Guide Dogs For The Blind Association - two of the UK's biggest charities - spend 64 per cent of their respective incomes on charitable activities.

Meanwhile, Marie Carie was found to give just one per cent more of its donations - at 65 per cent.

Below the 50 per cent mark, the British Heart Foundation was said to spend an average of just 46 per cent of its cash on good work - while Age UK apparently gives a slightly higher 48 per cent. 

Sir Stephen Bubb, Chief Executive of ACEVO, said: 'It is bizarre that people who worked in the sophisticated world of finance have overlooked the lesson of the Kids Company collapse. 

'Namely, that to spend every penny on the frontline and neglect other essential spending leads inevitably to the collapse of the frontline with tragic consequences. 

'Kids Company taught us that it is vital that charities invest money in resilience, professionalism and for the long term.

'This flawed and simplistic analysis arbitrarily defines ‘charitable activity’ to exclude campaigning and other fund raising activity. 

'Yet these are the lifeblood of the great British charitable tradition. We work to alleviate the symptoms of disease and poverty and to tackle the causes of such. Donors give money for both.'

The Charity Commission agreed that the analysis was 'flawed'. 

It added that the report had not 'considered basic information in the charities’ accounts'.

In a blog, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations referred to the report as 'neither true nor fair', explaining how charities add public donations to their trading to boost the amount of money they have to spend on good causes. It described the study as 'misleading in its analysis'.

The True and Fair Foundation concludes its 'A Hornets' Nest' report by declaring that trust in the charity sector 'is being eroded as light is shone on negative practices', and that charities have to ' evolve and be transparent so donors can be confident that they have a right to be supported.