A former leader of Wandsworth Council has been caught up in the MP expenses row after claiming taxpayer money for his house in Putney.

The Daily Telegraph claimed Sir Paul Beresford, a Conservative MP who was leader of the council in the 1980s, delegated his Putney home - which includes his dentists surgery where he works three days a week - as his second home on his parliamentary allowances.

Sir Paul, MP for Mole Valley, Surrey, said the arrangement was cheaper for the taxpayer and had caused him to lose income.

He said before his election as MP in 1992, the property - above a hairdressers - was registered with Wandsworth Council as a 50 per cent residential and 50 per cent business.

On election he said the Common’s fees office suggested he purchase a second home but he instead decided to reduce his practice and go part-time.

As the council and some utility companies charged him separate business rates, he told the paper he decided that “roughly” three-quarters of the costs of the flat were related to his parliamentary duties and so should be paid for by the taxpayer.

Sir Paul told the paper his claims were among the lowest in the Commons, adding that he had suffered financially as a result of cutting back his surgery hours and by not claiming for a separate second home.

He told the paper: “Patients are aware and accept the Commons takes precedence and accept short-notice cancellations.

“The mortgage interest was relatively low so I decided that this was a preferable option as it cost the taxpayer less even though I lost money on the much-reduced dental practice.

“In effect, so as to reduce the cost to the taxpayer, I have lost private income. The taxpayer is not subsidising my practice.”

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