TORY MP James Duddridge was paid £7,000 in expenses directly into his personal bank account over three years.

From when he was elected in 2005, the money for petty cash claims was transferred to him, without him having to submit a receipt.

Mr Duddridge, the MP for Rochford and Southend East, was one of 60 MPs who asked the Commons authorities to wire a set amount of cash to them, or their offices, each month.

Between them, they received almost £290,000 over four years.

Mr Duddridge said the money was paid under incidental expenses provision and was for office supplies. He said the money would be paid into his account, drawn as cash and used as petty cash in his two offices.

He said: “That money would have been spent on things like newspapers, tea, coffee, small items of stationery, large postage items, and things that need to be bought that have run out.

“They are all office costs, like if a printer or some IT equipment breaks down and needs to be serviced. Then it’s paid in cash. The House of Commons would send me £250 for a petty cash box and I’d have one in my Westminster office and one in my constituency for office costs. If there was something for me, like a sandwich, then that comes out of my own money.”

Mr Duddridge’s total claims for office supplies under the incidental expenses provision was £19,788 for 2007/08. This includes office rent and staff costs, as well as petty cash.

He added: “The rules as they were then were not transparent and not ideal. Going forward it’s quite right that receipts are now demanded for everything. But then that was the system and the authorities didn’t want lots of receipts for £1.20 or £20 for this and that.”

MPs could claim up to £12,000 each over four years in petty cash payments from the House of Commons authorities.

Southend West MP David Amess claimed £4,950 over four years under the heading petty cash, which was declared in the full publication of MPs’ expenses in June.

He made the maximum petty cash claim of £250 every month from October 2006, but has not explained what the money was spent on.

The 60 MPs include John Bercow, the new Speaker of the House who chairs the Commons committee that oversees expenses policy. He claimed £4,800 for hospitality.

Three Labour MPs top the table claiming the maximum £12,000, and Hazel Blears former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government received £6,600.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said: “The amount of money being claimed as petty cash is astounding. This practice is completely unacceptable.”

Until April last year, MPs were allowed to claim £250 petty cash each month without submitting receipts, under the incidental expenses provision.

Few MPs claimed the maximum amount and most put in smaller claims through their main expenses forms, with many providing receipts.

Last April the £250 petty cash limit was reduced to £50 per month. All items over £25 have to be claimed for with receipts.