Richard Ottaway will not be forced to pay back any of his controversial expenses claims.

The Croydon South MP had his claims, which included about £9,000 on gardening, inspected by the Conservative head office scrutiny panel last week.

But the panel, which has the power to recommend MPs pay back any claims it felt were unreasonable, did not feel Mr Ottaway was required to pay back any money.

The 64-year-old has paid back £4,050 to the fees office, covering £2,650 he claimed towards a bed and £1,400 for homeware and electrical goods.

But following the scrutiny panel meeting it appears he is under no obligation to pay back any of the £8,825 spent on maintaining the garden of his second home in Bletchingley, and appears unwilling to do so voluntarily.

It may come as little surprise after his voting record, on website theyworkforyou.com, showed he had voted “moderately against” a transparent Parliament.

Mr Ottaway has remained defiant over his second home, a £467,100 country pile further away from the House of Commons than his constituency and his two other properties, both located in Westminster.

He is the only one of the three Croydon MPs to claim for a second home, which he claims is necessary to carry out the amount of constituency work he does.

There have been calls for his resignation from both opposition members and those inside his own party.

Last week we revealed how members of the Croydon South Conservative Federation had contacted the party demanding Mr Ottaway stand down.

But he has so far dismissed any resignation clamour, instead promising a meeting with the party members following an executive meeting which will itself examine his claims.

Mr Ottaway will face a vote of confidence from party members after the meeting, but he is facing calls for the meeting to be made public so the voting constituents can also have their say.

The leniency of the scrutiny panel could be seen as a let off but may not be enough to dampen the anger towards the MP over his claims.

Among his claims between April 2004 and March 2008 were £59.99 on lightbulbs, £50 for repairing a tractor tyre and £48 modifying a scarifier – a device used to churn up soil.

Mr Ottaway has continued to refuse to comment over the issue.

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