Sir Menzies Campbell, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, filed an expenses claim for a bar of soap and a toilet brush as part of a £10,000 makeover of his Pimlico flat, it emerged last night.

The Olympic sprinter, who stood down as leader of the Lib Dems in October 2007, was reimbursed by the taxpayer for the cost of a loo brush, soap, pleated fabric blinds worth £538, bedside shelves costing £1,420, a new £1,024 king-size bed and a decorating bill of £1,515.

Sir Menzies defended claiming back the cost of hiring an interior designer to refurbish his rented Dolphin Square studio flat by insisting that it was cheaper to redecorate his existing flat than to lease a larger one.

Separately, Andrew George, the Lib Dem MP for St Ives, also claimed £847 per month back from the taxpayer on mortgage interest payments for a London home which was used by his daughter, a professional model.

In a statement, Mr George said: "'This story’s main allegation appears to be that I have a London flat that is sometimes visited by my daughter, who lives elsewhere in London. My flat is used as the base for my Parliamentary work. A third of the flat’s cost was paid directly by me without taxpayer support."

Lembit Opik, the Housing spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said he would refund the £40 he claimed for a court summons he received for not paying his council tax. Meanwhile, Chris Huhne, the Home Affairs spokesman, agreed to repay £119 he claimed for a trouser press delivered to his main home. He also claimed for fluffy dusters and the upkeep of his “pergola cross beam”, a piece of garden equipment.

Julia Goldsworthy, the party's Treasury spokeswoman, spent thousands of pounds shortly before the deadline for using the second home allowance, including part of the cost of a leather rocking chair purchased from Heal's, the upmarket department store.

Yesterday, Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, promised that any money made from selling homes refurbished on expenses would be repaid.

That pledge goes further than David Cameron, the Conservative leader, who forced members of his own Shadow Cabinet to pay back certain expenses and to post all new claims online in the future.

Mr Cameron made his statement after holding separate meetings yesterday morning, in which he told Shadow Cabinet what he expected them to pay back. Refusal to do so would have meant immediate dismissal.

The Tory leader said that he was “sorry for the actions of some Conservative MPs" and added: “I don’t care if they [some of the claims] were within the rules, they were wrong.

“I am angry about what has happened. It is out of order and some of it is abuse of taxpayers’ money and I am going to deal with it.” When he heard about claims for moats and swimming pools he was appalled, he added.

The Shadow Cabinet members were publicly humiliated, but had little choice but to accept the decision. How the episode will affect their future relations with Mr Cameron is unclear.

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