COLCHESTER’S MP has claimed changes to rules over expenses could cost taxpayers £15,000 more a year.

From August 2012, Bob Russell will no longer be able to claim the mortgage interest on the one-bedroom London flat he shares with fellow Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock.

He said, instead of claiming £2,000 a year for the mortgage interest, they could ask for £17,400 in rent for a flat in London, potentially adding £15,400 to each MP’s claims.

Mr Russell, who boasts his claims are among the lowest 10 per cent in the country, said: “The notion the new proposals will cost the public purse less are clearly not true in the case of Mike Hancock and myself.

“We will now need to consider what to do in the light of the proposals published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

“Do we stay in our low-cost, shared-flat, or move upmarket into rented accommodation, which is what the authority proposals are saying we should do, even though it will be more expensive to the public purse?

“I sincerely hope it will not impact on the level of service which I provide, both from my constituency office, in Colchester, and at the House of Commons. If it does, this will impact on the level of assistance I can give to constituents and my representation on behalf of Colchester.”

Mr Russell was asked to repay £4,500 earlier this year after he claimed too much in mortgage expenses and for council tax on his second home.

Meanwhile, Bernard Jenkin, who has repaid £36,250 in expenses claims, said he was happy to accept the new rule changes.

The Conservative MP for North Essex, who claimed the money in rent for a farmhouse owned by his sister-in-law, said he was now renting a house in Hatfield Peverel for £650 a month.

He added: “I have no issue with the recommendations.

“I’m pretty sure my new arrangements will not be affected. I now rent a very small home in my constituency.

“We need some new rules and I will accept them.”

Mr Jenkin, who is thought to have repaid one of the highest sums claimed through MPs’ expenses, said he had made no expenses claims in the past 12 months.