OXFORD East MP Andrew Smith claimed £73,869 in expenses for his second home in London over four years, the Oxford Mail can reveal.

Mr Smith, whose main home is in Blackbird Leys, claimed the money for his three-bedroom property in Lambeth between April 2004 and March 2008.

He claimed £22,277 on paying off the interest on his mortgage and £8,960 on food. He also spent more than £30,000 on repairs, including £5,650 on a bathroom, £8,115 on a kitchen, £4,694 on a boiler and £853 on curtains. His utilities bills topped £3,000.

Mr Smith, a Labour MP since 1987, said his constituents had the right to know what he had claimed for.

And last night, Oxfordshire MPs Evan Harris, Tony Baldry and Ed Vaizey also said they were willing to reveal their expenses.

Henley MP John Howell could not be contacted, while Tory leader David Cameron is due to face constituents over his claims in Witney today.

Mr Smith, 57, insisted he had not abused the system but understood the public outcry over the expenses scandal.

He said “These are huge sums of money and I know how it looks, but we have this allowance to be able to have a second home and I have done my level best to claim within the spirit as well as the letter of the rules.

“My house is a modest mid-terrace house on an estate.

“This means my mortgage interest costs are much less than the mortgage or rent for most other MPs, but I have had to spend significant amounts on repairs.

“During the period covered by these claims, as well as repairs needed to the kitchen and bathroom, there were problems with the downstairs floor and with some of the plumbing, and the boiler needed replacing because it was unsafe.”

Mr Smith, a Government minister between 1997 and 2004, said the figure of £73,869 was what it cost to maintain his London home “to a decent standard”.

However, he said he sympathised with the perception that MPs had been abusing the system.

He said: “I think people recognise MPs have to incur extra costs, but they are concerned they are gaining personally.

“There’s understandably an enormous amount of anger. The only way we can address people’s concerns is through transparency and radical reform.”

Mr Smith, paid an annual salary of £64,766, said he would publish all his expenses claims for his second home on his website.

His annual claims over the four-year period were £20,816, £18,093, £21,652 and £13,307. MPs are allowed to claim up to £24,222 a year on their second homes.

Mr Smith admitted making three wrongful claims between 2004 and 2008, all of which he said were accidental and repaid in full when they came to light.

He wrongly claimed £982 for an insurance policy; he failed to pay back a deposit of £472 he claimed on a kitchen work surface which was never delivered; and he made duplicate claims for telephone and utilities bills amounting to £183.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, applauded Mr Smith for opening his expenses to public scrutiny.

He said: “It’s simple and easy to do, and local taxpayers will be glad he’s decided to take this step –– after all, it’s their money.

“He deserves great credit for being open, but the amount he has spent doing up his second home is vast and will raise a lot of eyebrows.

“It would be utterly wrong if, having spent so much taxpayers’ money doing that house up, he simply pocketed the profit. He has been using taxpayers’ money, and taxpayers should get any profit.”

tshepherd@oxfordmail.co.uk