TORY Rayleigh MP Mark Francois has angrily rejected claims he overcharged his Commons expenses for the rent of his second home, a flat in London.

Mr Francois, who is also the shadow Europe minister, has claimed £1,514.18 in rent every month since May, although all MPs agreed to a cap of £1,250 for future rents or mortgage interest on new properties.

However, the cap does not apply to existing rental contracts which have still some time to run.

Mr Francois was named in a national newspaper suggesting he had exceeded a limit on claims for rent of second homes.

Mr Francois said: “As I have rented the same flat for several years, I confirmed the existing arrangement and continued reclaiming the rent as previously.

“I have not exceeded the permitted limit on rental payments, as the new guidelines allowed for existing contractual arrangements to be honoured.

“If the way this was initially reported has caused any anxiety then I apologise for that and hope this explanation is reassuring.”

In a letter to Mr Francois last month, House of Commons quality assurance manager Trudy Myers accepted his situation.

She said: “The documents fully comply with the rules and your claims will continue to be met from the allowance.”

Mr Francois said he never claimed mortgage interest on his expenses because he had not bought a property in London to use as his second home.