A LONG-serving Bournemouth MP has defended his decision to claim thousands of pounds for a new kitchen and bathroom for his second home.

Sir John Butterfill admits he bought a “cheap B&Q kitchen” and new bathroom suite for his flat in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, several years ago.

But he said it was the first time in 26 years he had made a substantial claim for furnishings, adding that his second home allowances are usually below the maximum level.

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Sir John does not have a copy of his second home expenses and is unable to give exact breakdowns of expenditure.

But yesterday, he was contacted by a Daily Telegraph reporter, who alleged he had spent nearly £20,000 in total on the work.

He said: “I didn’t have expensive or luxury items put in. The kitchen was from B&Q and it didn’t have luxury units; it had fairly ordinary ones.

“The worktops were done in vinyl, which I think is the cheapest you can get.

“I pointed out to them that this was the first time in 26 years that I’ve ever claimed for anything like that.

“The bathroom arose from when I had my central heating done by British Gas and they said the boiler was so old they couldn’t get the parts any longer so I had to have a new one.

“The boiler was £2,233; it was quite expensive. I was surprised by that but it was done by British Gas.

“We didn’t have proper water pressure so when we were doing that, we put in a pump.

“And we had rising damp in the bathroom so we hacked the tiles off, put in waterproofing and put new tiles on.

“I don’t think any of that is extravagant. This work was not done to make my house a palace.”