South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge, who represents the peninsula, has rejected accusations he is claiming an additional £10,000 in expenses to work from home during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Mr Cartlidge, has been carrying out constituency work from his home in Assington, near Sudbury, while the Houses of Parliament are closed.

All MPs were told they could claim an additional £10k expenses, but Mr Cartlidge refuted suggestions on Facebook groups, he was among those taking the extra cash.

"I will not be using any of the £10k optional allowance at all," said Mr Cartlidge on social media. "My office has been configured for all staff to work from home if needed, and that is how we are now processing the many constituency enquiries we are currently receiving."

There has been criticism of MPs getting the extra expenses, especially when many, including Mr cartlidge, voted against a public sector pay rise, which wuld have included the NHS, in 217.

However, MPS did not award the optional £10k, as

have not had control over their expenses budget since 2010, when an independent body was set with responsibility for setting MPs' salaries and expenses, following the 2010 expenses scandal.

Reuters reported that on March 19, the IPSA informed MPs that it was implementing a series of measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

These measures included a £10,000 increase to the office costs budget, an increase in the credit limit of MPs payment card to £10,000 from £4,000 and changes to the claims process and the staff absence budget.

The office costs budget can include computers, printers, postage, office furniture and utilities, and covers MPs and their staff. Office cost rules are set by the IPSA.

An IPSA spokesperson said: "Most MPs' staff moved at very short notice from being based in Westminster, or in a constituency office, to working from home.

Many staff were not set up for home working, nor for supporting constituents remotely. This additional funding is to help them make that transition, while they deal with a huge increase in workload from distressed constituents as a result of coronavirus issues."