ONE of the region's senior MPs has given a detailed response to criticisms after he tried to spruce up his garden at taxpayers' expense.

Stockton North MP Frank Cook was criticised for claiming £1,450 for gardening work at his London home.

The claim was rejected by a House of Commons payments officer, who said it could be considered excessive.

Mr Cook was criticised by some of his constituents and by Councillor Bob Gibson, the Labour leader of Stockton Borough Council, who said people in Stockton would be aghast.

At the time Mr Cook said the claim was "not a hell of a lot of money" and accused people of prying into his personal affairs.

Now he has published a more detailed response to the criticisms.

In a written account, he said he had been misrepresented in the national media and had done nothing wrong.

He said the claim was made in accordance with Commons rules, and that his correspondence about it was wrongly leaked to the Press.

In the account, Mr Cook said that when he bought a terraced house in Camberwell, the garden was overgrown to head height.

At the time, he was awaiting surgery for a shoulder injury sustained in a road accident and was undergoing cardiovascular tests and that he could not tackle the work himself

He said: "I hope that people will at least now judge me on the basis of the facts, rather than fiction, and that they will perhaps be able to accept my apology for a lack of initial sensitivity and response to public concern.