Sussex MPs claimed almost £2 million in expenses last year.

The 16 MPs in the county claimed an average of £119,080 in allowances and expenses on top of the standard backbench salary of £57,485 and generous pension.

The figure is £4,048 higher than last year's average expense claim of £115,032.

The biggest spender in Sussex in the 12 months to April this year was Andrew Tyrie, Conservative MP for Chichester.

He claimed £140,868 for costs such as accommodation in London, his constituency office, staff salaries and travel and postage.

He was followed by Wealden MP Charles Hendry, who claimed £129,032 and Tim Loughton, MP for Shoreham and East Worthing, whose expenses totalled £127,785.

At the other end of the scale, Crawley MP Laura Moffatt claimed the least in Sussex with just £101,640 in expenses.

Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, said expenses should be broken down even further, so the public knows exactly what MPs spend their allowances on.

He said: "I think publishing expenses is a very good idea but I think they don't go far enough. The public should know whether their MP takes the train or drives.

"I imagine the public think this amount of money is what MPs pocket which is not true. I save on my office allowance by running the office from my own home and I frequently end up topping up the money spent out of my own pocket."

Mr Baker claimed higher than the national average expenses, claiming £125,587.

The national average expenses claim was £122,677. Brighton Kemptown MP Des Turner also claimed higher than the average, with £126,279 and Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs, Howard Flight, claimed £122,996.

Last year's biggest spender, former Hove and Portslade MP Ivor Caplin, ranked only ninth in this year's league table.

He claimed £118,999 - significantly less than the £129,133 he claimed in 2003/04.

Arundel MP Nick Herbert and Hove MP Celia Barlow, who succeeded Mr Flight and Mr Caplin in May, were elected after the period covered by the latest figures, published yesterday. Voters will have to wait until next year to find out how much they claimed in their first year.

Brighton's two MPs, Des Turner and David Lepper, appeared to be the busiest writers.

Their claims for postage reached £9,094 and £11,204 - significantly more than most of their colleagues, some of whom claimed less than £1,000.

Mr Flight claimed £89,919 for staff costs - one of the highest in the country. By contrast, Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, claimed £56,046.

Most MPs claimed money to help them pay for a second home or overnight stays in London. Several, including East Worthing and Shoreham's Tim Loughton, Eastbourne's Nigel Waterson, Chichester's Andrew Tyrie, Wealden's Charles Hendry, Bexhill and Battle's Gregory Barker, Lewes's Norman Baker, Arundel's Howard Flight, Bognor's Nick Gibb, Mid-Sussex's Nicholas Soames and Hove's Ivor Caplin, spent more than £20,000.

The notable exception was Crawley MP Laura Moffatt, who did not claim any costs towards accommodation.

Mr Lepper claimed £2,719 for travel expenses. Tim Loughton, MP for Shoreham and East Worthing, claimed £9,980.

Michael Foster, MP for Hastings and Rye, spent £1,989 on computer equipment. Mr Lepper spent £1,397.

Mr Foster also spent a relatively large amount, £19,325, on his constituency office. Mr Flight, by contrast, spent £3,619.

Tony Greenstein of the Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers' Centre said taxpayers were receiving poor value for money.

He said: "Expenses have ballooned and mushroomed while MPs have become much less effective at doing their job.

"By and large they are a bunch of nobodies who simply do their parties' bidding. The pay of MPs is outrageously high too.

"It's true they have to have stationery but I do wonder how MPs who used to manage on relatively little office expenses now seem to have unlimited allowances.

"Many MPs employ their own partners as secretaries so really it's a double income. That practice should be stopped and their expenses capped."

However, Michael Foster, who claimed £120,550, said he thought constituents were getting good value for money.

Mr Foster exceeded his £19,000 office budget spending another £5,000 of his own money.

He said: "It works out that every constituent is paying about £2 a year to have an MP. That's not bad value. One MP said last year he would give back the £2 to anyone who thought it wasn't worth it. I can't say that but I think most people will find it is fair. You have to look at what the money is being spent on.

"My London flat is quite small but I do spend a lot on paper and postage. Last year I sent about 14,000 letters out to constituents. The other big cost is running an office.

"The thing that really annoys MPs is that people think we get some benefit from expenses but everything we spend the money on is audited."

Nick Gibb, Conservative MP for Bognor and Littlehampton, was one of lowest spenders in Sussex, second only to Crawley MP Laura Moffat.

Mr Gibb spent £102,471 between April 2004 and March 2005 including £56,046 on staff costs, £9,104 on travel, £795 on stationary, £1,927 on IT provision and £1,489 on postage.

Mr Gibb said he not been especially frugal. He said: "It really depends on where your seat is located because of the transport costs. If you do a lot of travelling you are going to have higher expenses."

Des Turner, MP for Brighton Kemptown, said: "The figures are not sinister. I can promise you that MPs' expenses are very carefully regulated and although it looks like a lot of money, it's not money coming to us personally, it's going into running our offices and doing the job."