SOUTHEND West MP David Amess claimed £4,950 in petty cash over the past four years, but has refused to explain how it was spent.

Mr Amess began claiming odd amounts from petty cash in 2005, but every month since October 2006 he has taken £250 and simply put it down as “petty cash”.

Mr Amess also claimed the maximum of £400 a month for food, a total of £19,000 over four years, even when Parliament was not sitting.

In addition, between 2004 and 2008, Mr Amess claimed £6,300 for cleaning his flat on the Isle of Dogs.

The claims for cleaning vary from £100 to £200, and there were just four months when he did not submit – three at the beginning of 2007 and once in July 2007.

Both his food and cleaning claims have continued even during Parliamentary recesses when MPs, who are not Cabinet ministers or on specific committees, are not required to be at Westminster.

As a backbench MP, Mr Amess does not hold such a role.

The Tory MP also claimed £4,950 over four years in petty cash under the incidental expenses allowance for office costs. No explanation or receipts are given as to what this money was used for or spent on. The Echo tried to contact Mr Amess yesterday to explain the claims, but he refused to talk to us.

But he said in a statement: “My own circumstances with my second home have been that claiming the total allowance available would not have entirely covered the amount involved in running the home.

“My monthly claims reflect a contribution towards the overall annual total of costs involved in maintaining my second home.”

The total cost to the taxpayer for keeping Mr Amess well-fed while he is on Commons business is £19,000. In July 2005, he tried to claim £600 for food. but this was reduced to £400.

His costs come on top of his mortgage interest claims of £600 a month, totalling £28,750.

Peter Welch, Mr Amess’s Liberal Democrat challenger, said: “I’m astonished it’s possible to get £250 a month out of the taxpayer as petty cash with no explanation of what it is for.”