THE VAST majority of MPs in the South have been ordered to repay cash claimed under their Parliamentary expenses after a long-awaited review found the whole allowances system was "deeply flawed".
Sir Thomas Legg, who was called in to carry out an independent audit of all MPs' expense claims under the second home allowance in the past five years, demanded that ten MPs in south Hampshire and the Isle of Wight repay a total of £23,000.
The MP facing the largest repayment is Gosport's Peter Viggers, whose attempted claims for a duck house came to symbolise politicians' excesses under the discredited expenses regime.
Sir Peter was asked to pay back £13,464 he was judged to have been overpaid for gardening, roof repairs, mortgage interest and council tax.
The bill was reduced by £218 on appeal. The Conservative MP, who was abroad on Parliamentary business yesterday, has announced he is to retire at the next general election.
Other large repayments were demanded from Winchester MP Mark Oaten (£2,826) and Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead (£1,723) - both for overpayments on mortgage interest.
Southampton Itchen MP John Denham was told to repay £1,265 for mortgage interest and expensive armchairs, Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne was asked to return £1,152 for gardening claims and New Forest East MP Julian Lewis was told to replay £1,068 for a pricey washer dryer and also for mortgage interest.
Other MPs asked to repay cash by Sir Thomas included Fareham MP Mark Hoban (£408), Salisbury MP Robert Key (£530), Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner (£681) and North West Hampshire MP George Young (£104).
MPs who were deemed to have "no issues" with their expenses were Romsey MP Sandra Gidley, Basingstoke MP Maria Miller and New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne.
Nationally, Sir Thomas recommended that MPs hand back £1.3 million - a figure reduced by £185,000 after former judge Sir Paul Kennedy upheld a number of appeals by MPs against the repayment demands.
Any MPs who refuse to pay back money requested could face a vote in the House of Commons that might approve action to hold back payment of their future expenses or pay.
The report relates to all claims paid to MPs under the additional costs allowance between 2004 and 2009.
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