The man who sifted through the expenses claims of every British MP has described the expenses saga as “traumatic and painful”.

Sir Thomas Legg decided to claw back more than £1 million from MPs whose claims he felt were unjustified.

Politicians have been told to repay £4,000 for seven hotel stays, £711,000 for 208 mortgage/rent payments, £12,000 for 12 food payments, £10,000 for 30 utility bills, £35,000 for 59 council tax/rates bills and £23,000 for 35 telephone bills.

They have also been told to repay £105,000 for 56 cleaning bills, £81,000 for 52 maintenance bills, £73,000 for 24 repairs and insurance payments and £252,000 for 182 other claims.

Three MPs were asked to repay £40,000 or more, 56 MPs were asked to repay between £5,000 and £40,000, 182 MPs were asked to repay between £1,000 and £5,000 and 149 MPs were asked to repay between £100 and £1,000.

Sir Thomas described the expenses system as deeply flawed and said: “The saga of MPs’ expenses and freedom of information has been traumatic and painful. Public confidence has been damaged and the scars will no doubt take time to heal.”

Among the biggest orders made were against junior minister Barbara Follett, who claimed for security patrols outside her home. She was told to repay £42,458.

The millionaire Labour MP claimed £34,776 for security patrols because she said she did not feel safe, having been mugged and followed by a stalker. She was also paid £8,908 for six telephone lines at her second home.

Tory Andrew Mackay, the former aide to David Cameron, has repaid £31,193 while his wife Julie Kirkbride has repaid £29,243.

Sir Thomas said that the couple had made unacceptable claims for their second homes.

He said: “He designated his London flat as his second home, while his wife nominated it as her main home.

“He designated his constituency home as his main home while his wife nominated it as her second home.

“That meant that, between them, the couple had no main home which was not funded by the ACA.”

Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin had his repayment reduced by £27,000 from £63,250. Sir Thomas had requested money back from him after he rented his second home from his sister-in-law, which was against Commons rules.

Nadine Thomas, a Conservative MP under investigation by the Commons watchdog, has been asked to repay £1,314 after Sir Thomas said she had submitted duplicate hotel, internet and phone bills.

Former Conservative leader Michael Howard appealed against a request to repay £7,039 after making gardening claims deemed excessive. Mr Howard said the repayment claims were retrospective and illogical, as well as being unfair and unjust. However, his appeal was dismissed.

Other MPs forced to make repayments include Labour’s Alan Milburn, the former Health Secretary, who repaid £11,600 for overpayments of mortgage interest, service charges and council tax; Jim Knight, the employment minister, who had a bill of £3,451 for various overpayments and Anthony Steen, the MP for Totnes, had to repay £11,211, including £28.50 for flagpole rope and binding. He had previously claimed public anger over his expenses was due to jealousy over his “very, very large house”.

Conservative leader David Cameron claimed he had led the way in trying to defuse the expenses scandal.

He said: “What is absolutely essential is that MPs pay back all this money that’s been identified. Those MPs who refuse to pay it back should have it taken off their salaries or their redundancy payments, that’s got to happen.”

Lib Democrat leader Nick Clegg told the BBC he expected Sir Thomas’s report would be “uncomfortable reading for a large number of MPs” but added: “I hope it’ll be the final chapter in this rotten Parliament so we can look forward to a new Parliament with new rules.”

Gordon Brown’s spokesman said the Prime Minister regarded today’s report as “a very significant step forward”.

Today’s report showed that Mr Brown has repaid a total of £13,723.04 claimed in cleaning, decoration and gardening costs.

Mr Brown’s spokesman said the Prime Minister regarded today’s publication as one part of a wider process of restoring trust in Parliament, which also encompassed his proposals for voting reform and a written constitution.

Mr Cameron was told by Sir Thomas to repay £237.07 in overpaid mortgage interest and has returned a total of £965.45 since last April. Mr Clegg was told to return £910 after Sir Thomas deemed his gardening costs to be excessive. He has repaid £989.50 since April. Sir Thomas said he had “no issues” with allowances for former prime minister Tony Blair and former Speaker of the Commons Lord (Michael) Martin.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has repaid £800 in gardening costs dating from his time as MP for Hartlepool.

Former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Lilley had a demand for £41,057.36 from Sir Thomas overturned in its entirety on appeal.

Some of the highest-profile cases in the expenses scandal, such as Labour MPs Elliott Morley and David Chaytor, who are alleged to have claimed for mortgages which had been paid off, were not considered by the Legg Review, which was barred from looking at any issues under investigation by police or the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.

Special report by Andy Richardson