Perhaps the most obscure claim was for a subscription and clippings fees to the International Press Cuttings Bureau, for which he claimed £796.68.

But the MP for Horncastle and Louth, who gets an annual salary of £64,766, said he believed every MP gets it to keep a check of what is being written about them in the press.

He claimed £23,083 to cover the cost of staying away from home while working in Westminster.

Sir Peter said: "The only things I charge for are rent, council tax, utilities and contents insurance.

"I have no mortgage, and I've lived in the same two-bedroom rented flat in London ever since being a MP which is almost half a century."

It cost him £10,100 to run his offices in Westminster and Louth, which is a reduction on 2006/07 when he claimed £12,270. The office at Canon Street House in Louth costs £1,210.50 per quarter in rent and £170.61 for services, and his staff, in London and Louth, cost £100,790.


He paid £407 for stationery, another reduction as it was £561 the previous year, and £2,584 for the packaging costs associated with it.


IT equipment, supplied by Westminster, cost £1,105 to hire over four years.


He claimed £2,285 for communications, which covers advertising, websites, petitions, reports, newsletters, targetted communications, contact cards, surveys, distribution and some capital expenditure.


His travelling expenses were £1,380 for mileage and £3,748 for rail. He also claimed £1,199 for his wife to travel with him on 21 occasions.


Sir Peter claimed £1,596 in taxi fares over 38 journeys. He explained this was for journeys between Grantham Rail Station and his home every weekend.

The surgeries which he holds in Spilsby and Horncastle, including advertising, business rates, room hire, telephone bills, TV licence, and office equipment, as well as newspapers, cost £2,381.66 between April-December 2007.

Sir Peter said: "I have nothing to apologise about. I've always been very careful with money."

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