Gordon Brown has been asked to return £12,415 in excessive cleaning, decorating and gardening claims after an audit of MPs’ expenses.

The demand on the Prime Minister, whose claims were regarded as relatively modest, raised expectations that others could be asked to pay back much bigger sums, in some cases running into six figures.

The audit was carried out by the retired civil servant Sir Thomas Legg. Many MPs claim that he has exceeded his brief by applying tough new rules retrospectively to approved claims.

On a day of high emotion in Westminster, MPs waited anxiously for letters telling them of Sir Thomas’s verdict. By the afternoon the Commons Administration Office was packed with MPs who had been waiting for hours to learn whether they were in the clear or if they would be asked to provide more information about their claims or repay money. By last night many were still in the dark.

Those who received letters challenging their claims included Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, who is to repay £554 on a £1,104 chest of drawers for his second home, and Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who said that he had already sent a cheque for £910 to repay gardening bills. Mr Darling was also asked for proof of his mortgage interest payments.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, and George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, were asked for more information about their mortgage interest claims. Mr Cameron is to supply documents relating to a £219 overclaim that he had blamed on an inadvertent administrative error and that he has already returned. Mr Osborne has been asked for copies of his mortgage statements. It is understood that he was not asked to repay any money.

Earlier in the day Jacqui Smith, the former Home Secretary, was forced to apologise to the Commons after a separate inquiry found that she had breached expenses rules. She wrongly registered her sister’s house in London as her main home, allowing her to claim £116,000 in allowances on her family home in her constituency.

Labour MPs appeared miserable as they trooped in to hear Mr Brown’s post-recess speech to his parliamentary party last night. He had asked them to co-operate with the audit but several voiced fury that Sir Thomas had “changed the rules” by setting arbitrary limits on claims retrospectively.

Sir Thomas has ruled that MPs should have claimed no more than £2,000 a year for cleaning and £1,000 for gardening. In the five years to April 2008 Mr Brown claimed £10,717 more than the limit for cleaning and £302 more for gardening. He must also repay £1,396 for decorating after a bill was submitted twice. He said that he would return the money and urged his ministers to follow suit. A spokesman said: “Gordon felt that it was right to show leadership, act quickly and decisively and lead by example.”

Last year 460 MPs claimed more than the Prime Minister in expenses.

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