Essex University chancellor John Bercow splashed out £1,000 on a taxi for a 130 mile journey that could have cost as little as £67 by train.

A Freedom of Information request by the Mail Online uncovered expenses charged by the former Commons Speaker.

His bill included paying £1,003 for a return taxi journey from Westminster to Nottingham Trent University in order to give a speech.

Aides say he was encouraged not to take public transport to Nottingham Trent University, where he was giving a speech to the Political Studies Association conference, because of “security concerns”.

The taxi, which waited for him during the talk and dropped his colleague off in Bicester on the way back, cost £836.50 before VAT , a Commons spokeswoman told the PA news agency.

A Commons spokeswoman said: “Due to heightened security concerns for the safety of MPs, Mr Bercow was advised it was safer for him to travel to Nottingham Trent University by taxi, rather than by train.”

Mr Bercow also enjoyed a £7,000 jaunt around the US during the end of his tenure, according to details from the FoI.

His expenses, paid by taxpayers, included a £118-a-month subscription to Sky for Speaker’s House, the apartment within the Palace of Westminster where Mr Bercow resided with his family.

The former Conservative MP also racked up a £12,000 bill for leaving parties including an invoice of £3,168 for a retirement party for Speaker’s chaplain Rose Hudson-Wilkin. Rather than retire, however, she became the Bishop of Dover.

Mr Bercow also spent £2,376 on a retirement party for the Commons invitations secretary in February and a month later another £3,187 for a formal farewell to Clerk of the House, David Natzler.

In May, the Speaker’s official account spent £3,696 on giving the principal clerk of the Table Office a send-off.

“The Speaker’s Office has funded retirement receptions for senior staff many times in the past,” a Commons spokeswoman said.

Before he left the Commons chair on October 31, Mr Bercow used his official account to settle a £234 drinks bill at a reception for the Panel of Chairs - MPs who help him oversee Parliamentary debates - and £560 on lunch for his counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Remain-voter Mr Bercow refereed proceedings in the Commons for nine years.