National Trust membership has climbed above 5.5 million in a record-breaking year for conservation spending.

The charity announced in its annual report that its membership had increased in the past year by more than 300,000 to 5,600,000. It also revealed that it had spent more than £148m on conservation and restoration projects in 2018/19.

Among other projects, money was spent on the restoration of England’s highest war memorial on Scafell Pike and the reintroduction of water voles on Exmoor in the 12 months to February 2019.

The charity spent £10m more than in the previous year, with £104.5m put towards buildings and collections, £35.7m spent on the coast and countryside, and £8.2m on gardens.

A total of 26.9m visits were made to the 780 miles of coastline, 248,000 hectares of land and more than 500 historic houses, gardens and parks that the National Trust looks after.

As well as members, the organisation is supported by 65,000 volunteers, who gave more than 4.8m hours of their time in 2018/19.

The trust’s director of support and revenue, Sharon Pickford, said: “These latest figures are not only great news for the National Trust as a charity, but also for the hundreds of special places we look after. Our work to care for these places is only possible through the generosity of our members, visitors, volunteers, funders and donors.

“Without them, we simply wouldn’t be able to spend record levels on conservation and access work to ensure more people have a great experience when they come to our places.”