Tory grandee Bill Cash was today drawn into the expenses row after it emerged he paid his daughter £15,000 in rent from parliamentary expenses – despite owning a flat closer to Westminster.

The veteran MP and arch Eurosceptic designated the west London apartment owned by his daughter Laetitia – a former Bridgnorth district councillor – as his second home during 2004 and 2005.

See also: MP ‘embarrased’ by colleagues

For a year the Stone MP used public money to pay her £1,200 a month rent.

At the same time Mr Cash, whose main residence is a country house near Bridgnorth, owned his own flat in Pimlico, a short walk from Parliament.

Shortly after he stopped claiming the money, Miss Cash, 35 – a rising star in the Conservative Party who is on leader David Cameron’s “A-list” of preferred candidates – sold the property for a £48,000 profit.

Her father then reportedly nominated two private members’ clubs as his second home for three months.

Commons rules were changed in 2006 to prevent MPs renting properties from close relatives.

Mr Cash, who has been an MP for 25 years, denied any wrongdoing and defended his record of expenses which he said were within the rules at the time. But he said he would repay the money if required to.

Laetitia Cash

He said: “I had a flat which I rented from my daughter under the rules – under an agreement which was agreed in advance with the fees office.

“I had a country house under which I made no claims, but which I was entitled to do under the rules.”

And he was not the only MP from the region to have their expenses thrust under the spotlight.

Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski was grilled on his expenses by his Shrewsbury constituents at a public meeting last night.

He used public money to buy a £70 chest of drawers, a £109 armchair and a £142 table.