A FORMER Government minister claimed more than £1,000 for bedding and a dishwasher.

Hilary Armstrong, the MP for North-West Durham and a former Chief Whip, billed the taxpayer £341 for bedding in July 2004 and requested £705 for a dishwasher in September 2005, which was reduced by officials to £375.

The claims are among those Ms Armstrong published on her website yesterday.

They relate to her home in Crook, County Durham, which she declares as her second home for expenses purposes, with her “first home” being a flat two-and-a-half miles from the House of Commons.

The arrangement allows the MP to claim thousands of pounds each year in mortgage interest payments on the Crook property, which doubles as a constituency office.

The files also show Ms Armstrong made claims for Sky TV. She said she needed the pay service’s 24-hour news and Parliament channels when she was Chief Whip, but has only claimed for ten months’ subscription in the past seven years.

Ms Armstrong has also regularly claimed for food, cleaning, utility bills, council tax and insurance. She said: “I’ve nothing to hide. I’ve been here a long time and I’ve always been careful about what I claim.”

The MP said she had published the records online because she did not like the “drip drip feed” of information, which she said was not giving people a clear picture.

Last week, The Daily Telegraph newspaper revealed Ms Armstrong claimed £3,100 towards the cost of repointing the gables and walls on her constituency home.

She said the work was required because of a problem with hornets getting into the cavity wall and was essential to the basic infrastructure of the house.

Ms Armstrong also paid back £5,000 she had recouped in food expenses, saying her conscience told her claiming was not the right thing to do.

Last night, Ms Armstrong said the dishwasher was used by office staff and the bedding claim was “justified” and the only one she had made.

She also said she wanted the issue of expenses to be settled by an independent body.