Ian Gibson's flat for daughter and boyfriend, courtesy of the taxpayer

Ian Gibson

Mr Gibson claimed almost £80,000 in four years for mortgage interest and bills on a London flat which was the main home of his daughter, a civil servant who was then in her late twenties. Helen Gibson lived there with her boyfriend rent-free, with all bills paid by the taxpayer, for several years after the MP bought it in 1999.

Mr Gibson, who will meet his local party in the coming days to discuss his future, said last night that he stayed in the small basement flat for three nights a week “most weeks”, before selling the property to the couple last June for approximately half the market value.

Helen Gibson lived in the flat on which her father claimed

The couple did not pay any rent, or contribute to the mortgage, utility or telephone bills, or cleaning costs before then.

Mr Gibson had hidden the arrangement in expense claims which he published himself this week in the wake of disclosures in the Telegraph. He edited out information that would have let the public establish that his daughter lived in the flat and subsequently bought it.

The case highlights the potential for MPs to cover up crucial details of claims even once they are made public.

It is not known how much Mr Gibson, the MP from Norwich North, paid for the flat in Baron’s Court, west London, but he sold it to Miss Gibson and William Turner last year for £162,000.

The basement flat next door sold for £260,000 in 2004 and yesterday a local estate agent said that similar properties in the street were worth £300,000-£375,000 last June.

Mr Gibson said his daughter and her boyfriend had “taken over the mortgage”.

According to the records seen by the Telegraph, Mr Gibson also claimed expenses for hotel stays in March 2008, before moving into a rented flat close to Westminster.

He told his local newspaper that he had decided to sell the flat after having a stroke.

According to Mr Gibson’s website, his daughter is a civil servant. She began working for central government after completing a sociology degree and worked at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister under John Prescott. She is now thought to be working as a lobbyist.

Mr Gibson also told his local paper that “the idea of an independent auditor looking at individual receipts would be a great step forward”.

He did not submit receipts for three years in which he claimed second home allowance on the Baron’s Court flat. Almost every month he claimed for mortgage interest typically around £800, council tax, telephone bills, utility bills and maintenance, totalling £61,437 in three years.

In the financial year 2004-05, he claimed £1,500 in council tax. In the following year he claimed £1,730 and in 2006-07 he received £1,550.

According to the Valuation Office, the flat was rated Band D, which meant he should have paid £1,131 in 2004-05, and £1,158 the next year.

Mr Gibson was elected in 1997 and sits on the innovation, universities, science and skills select committee. In 2006 he said inbreeding may be partly to blame for a rise in diabetes in his constituency.