THREE Sussex Tories have been named among the country’s biggest expenses spenders – claiming nearly £200,000 each over the last year.

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, and former MPs Gregory Barker and Mike Weatherley, who both stood down at the last election, racked up bills which put them in the top ten national list - which excludes travel costs.

Including travel costs Sussex’s 16 MPs claimed £2,580,579 over the 2014/15 period .

Their expenses included council tax, a TV licence, office chairs, dinner while at parliament, removal costs in preparation for standing down .

Excluding travel costs, Mr Barker spent £193,140 while Mr Loughton spent £188,428 and Mr Weatherley spent £188,354.

They ranked fourth, eighth and ninth respectively on the national list, published yesterday by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Mr Loughton spent £25,854 on accommodation, £137,943 on staffing and £21,140 on office costs.

Some of his spending included £79.97 on two new chairs for his constituency office from Staples, £101 on food at Parliament, £130 on parking and £145 on a TV licence

Also included in his expenses is pay for his wife Elizabeth as a part-time senior case worker on a salary of £10,000 to £15,000.

The Argus:

In 2010/11 Mr Loughton’s expenses were £110,207. This means his expenses have increased by more than £80,000 since the beginning of the last parliament.

Mr Weatherley, who stood down at the last election due to health reasons, spent £891 on removal costs moving out of his London flat and constituency office in preparation for standing down.

He also spent £1,088 on council tax for his London flat, £374 paying the congestion charge and £3,793 on hotels in London.

Mr Barker spent £46.50 on postage, £162.64 on contact cards and £52.48 on a replacement fridge.

In total he spent £156,459 on staffing, £11,715 on office costs, £24,932 on accommodation and £3,547 on travel.

The lowest spending MP in the county was Sir Peter Bottomley who spent £101,477.94 – including travel.

Both Mr Weatherley and Mr Barker saw large increases in their expenses costs over the last parliament, jumping from £122,384.62 and £111,579.08 respectively.

Nationally the bill for MPs' expenses and offices rose by 1.6% to nearly £106 million last year but the overall increase between 2013-14 and 2014-15 was the slowest in recent years.

The lowest spending in the country was Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, who claimed just £847.01 – massively undercutting the second lowest Liz McInnes, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton, with £54,842.34.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said:"MPs clearly need a properly-resourced office to help them carry out their parliamentary and constituency duties, although they must always seek to achieve value for the taxpayers' money they are spending.

"At first glance, these latest figures are to be welcomed since MPs appear to have kept costs under control, effectively reducing the total spent on running their offices after inflation is taken in to account.