Essex County Council leader charged with false accounting on expenses claims

Conservative peer, and leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hanningfield has been charged with offences of false accounting arising from his claims for parliamentary expenses, the Director of Public Prosecutions has announced.

Alongside Lord Hanningfield, three Labour MPs, former minister and MP for Scunthorpe Elliott Morley, Livingston's Jim Devine and Bury North MP David Chaytor, have been charged.

Lord Hanningfield (pictured) faces six charges of false accounting, relating to claims for overnight allowances from the House of Lords between March 2006 and May 2009.

It is alleged that Lord Hanningfield dishonestly submitted claims to which he knew he was not entitled, including numerous claims for overnight expenses for staying in London when records showed that he was driven to his home near Chelmsford.

A Conservative Party spokesman later confirmed that Lord Hanningfield had resigned his position as a frontbench business spokesman in the House of Lords and the Tory whip has been suspended.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said the six files passed to the CPS by Scotland Yard had been reviewed "very carefully by senior prosecuting lawyers in the CPS, assisted where necessary by an external and highly experienced QC".

Mr Morley is to face two charges, Mr Devine is to face two charges and Mr Chaytor is to face three charges.

Announcing the charges under the Theft Act, Mr Starmer said that one further case was still being investigated, while there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Labour peer Lord Clarke of Hampstead.

Files on six parliamentarians accused of the worst excesses in the second homes expenses scandal were passed by police to the Crown Prosecution Service in November and December.

The announcements by the CPS follow Thursday's damning verdict on MPs' expenses by Sir Thomas Legg, who conducted an audit of all claims made in recent years and condemned the system as "deeply flawed". Hundreds of MPs were ordered to repay a total of £1.12 million.

Labour backbencher David Chaytor is accused of wrongly claiming more than £20,000 on his second home expenses.

Some £12,925 of that was allegedly claimed towards rent on a London property that he, in fact, owned outright.

The Crown Prosecution Service disclosed today that he is also accused of dishonestly claiming £5,425 that he purportedly paid in rent to his mother in Lancashire.

He is further alleged to have claimed £1,950 for IT services backed up by false invoices.

The MP faces three charges of false accounting.

He has previously apologised "unreservedly" for what he called an "unforgivable error in my accounting procedures".

His wife, Sheena, described the claims as a "stupid mistake".

Mr Chaytor referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, John Lyon, but was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.

He has paid back almost £13,000.

A former teacher at the Manchester College of Arts and Technology, Mr Chaytor has been the MP for Bury North since the 1997 general election.