MPs across the south were paid more than £73,000 in expenses in the first three months after the election, records released by a watchdog revealed.

Sir George Young, Commons leader and MP for North West Hampshire, received the largest payment in the region, £12,273, according to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa).

It mainly covered mileage and mortgage interest, although the largest single claim was for £2,408.75 for the Parliamentary Resources Unit (PRU), a Conservative party research unit that provides statistics to MPs.

Gosport’s Caroline Dinenage received the second largest payment locally, £10,128.28, which also included a fee for the PRU, though her claim for that totalled £3,877.

Daily Echo: Video news headlines from the Southern Daily Echo

Other claims the Conservative MP made were for £193.88 for business cards and 97p to send a letter to Consulate Bangkok.

The lowest payout among the region’s politicians was to Labour’s John Denham (Southampton Itchen), pictured, totalling £1,300.79.

Most claims were for travel, accommodation or office costs but Basingstoke’s Maria Miller claimed for smaller items including £6 for a lens cap for a parliamentary camera and a coffee glass carafe replacement for her office.

It was the first time Ipsa, the watchdog set up to handle claims in the wake of the parliamentary expenses scandal, has released details of MPs’ allowance payments and its website had more than 80,000 hits within the first hour and a half, bringing it to a grinding halt.

The organisation has come in for criticism for refusing to publish the actual receipts submitted or reveal details of any of the 1,574 rejected claims.

Instead, the records released yesterday simply show the amount they had paid to each MP between the election and August 31, accompanied by a brief description.

It was that detailed information which allowed some of the previous wrongdoing by MPs to be exposed in revelations which rocked Westminster.

As the records were released, a fractious debate took place in the Commons about the future of Ipsa, with MPs claiming that the new system was too “complicated and unfair” and allowed the wealthiest MPs to be “treated as saints”.

EXPENSE DETAILS


• Steve Brine, £8,361.62
• Desmond Swayne, £4,458.57
• Andrew Turner, £6,189.23
• Caroline Dinenage, £10,128.28
• Alan Whitehead, £1,785.40
• Maria Miller, £3,216.61
• George Young, £12,273
• John Denham, £1,300.79
• Caroline Nokes, £7,500.33
• Mark Hoban, £7,464.96
• Chris Huhne, £4,031.15
• Julian Lewis, £6,471.63