Cat Survival Trust investigated over alleged accounts failure

A charity set up to support the conservation of wild cats is being investigated over alleged "continuous failure" to file its accounts.

The Charity Commission has launched an inquiry into the Cat Survival Trust which is based in Codicote, Hertfordshire.

The regulator said trustees had failed to submit "outstanding accounting information" for 11 years in a row.

The Cat Survival Trust, set up in 1976, was contacted for comment.

The trust also runs a wild cat sanctuary near Welwyn, Hertfordshire.

According to the charity's website, the trust "is based on a 12-acre site where a small band of unpaid staff manage its affairs in an overcrowded office".

It also said the staff "care for the cats, maintain the site and buildings and do most of the construction work".

The inquiry was opened to look at the trustees' "compliance with legal duties and fulfilment of its charitable objects".

The commission, which regulates charities in England and Wales on behalf of the government, said "over the years" it had worked "to encourage the charity to submit overdue financial information".

It had "repeatedly" sent filing reminders and tried to establish whether the Cats Survival Trust was still operating, a spokesperson said.

The inquiry would also examine the "extent to which the trustees" had "furthered the charity's objects for the public benefit".

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