Tony Blair has rejected the chance to buy bottles of expensive wine given to him by President Jacques Chirac on four separate occasions, it has emerged.

The Prime Minister's indifference to the alcoholic treats, revealed today in a written parliamentary answer, means that they are held by his office for future incumbents.

Mr Blair published details of all gifts valued at more than £140 received by himself and other ministers between April 2005 and March 2006.

He received a total of 17 gifts, but chose to purchase only three, paying £150 for a lead crystal vase from the Italian government, £200 for five commemorative coins from the Russian Government and £300 for a contemporary print of London from the successful 2012 Olympic bid team.

The value of the wine presented to the Prime Minister was described as over the £140 limit but no exact price tag was attached to it.

M Chirac gave four lots of wine to Mr Blair in June, July, October and December of last year - at times when the Government was at loggerheads with the French over the EU budget and farm subsidies.

The two countries were also in competition in July 2005 for the right to stage the 2012 Olympics, although M Chirac presumably did not send any of the bottles to congratulate Mr Blair on London's success over Paris.

The French leader should console himself with the knowledge that he was not the only head of state to be snubbed in this way. The Prime Minister also rejected the chance to buy rugs from the governments of India, Qatar, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

John Prescott's well-publicised gifts from millionaire Dome owner Philip Anschutz appear in the list. The Deputy Prime Minister wore the Stetsun, boots, spurts, belt and buckle during his stay at Mr Anschutz's ranch but chose not to buy them for his personal use.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, and a father of two boys, paid £190 for a toy given to him by the vice-president of the Council of Ministers and the Italian Finance Minister.

When he was Defence Secretary, John Reid, now the Home Secretary, was given a gold ornate dagger by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a ceremonial sword from the Danish Government. The gifts remain in the department for the use of his successor, Des Browne.

It also emerged today that Mr Blair more than doubled his annual spending on overseas travel to more than £2 million in the year to April.

His visits, in the run-up to the UK presidencies of the G8 and EU, and as part of London's 2012 Olympic bid, accounted for a third of the cost of all ministerial travel.

Mr Blair made 22 overseas visits between March 2005 and April 2006, at a cost of £2,023,909 including both travel and accommodation. The figure for all ministerial travel was £6.1 million.

The Prime Minister's single most expensive visit at £482,880 was last July to Riyadh for private talks with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and then on to Singapore for the 2012 Olympic bid announcement.

Meanwhile, the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments published its advice to 11 former ministers, 79 senior civil servants and 604 junior civil servants who wanted to take up outside appointments after leaving their jobs between April 2005 and March 2006.

Nick Raynsford, the former local government minister, accepted five jobs after he lost his post in last year's post-election reshuffle: deputy chairman of the Construction Industry Council, chairman of the Fire Protection Association Council, chairman of the National House-Building Council Foundation, non-executive director of the Notting Hill Housing Trust and non-executive director of the recruitment agency Rockpools.

The jobs were approved, but the MP was told not to lobby the Government of behalf of the organisations for 12 months after his departure from ministerial office.

The former BBC Director-General Lord Birt, an unpaid strategy adviser to the Prime Minister, asked for advice on three job offers after he left No 10 last December: adviser for private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, chairman of Waste Recycling Ltd (a subsidiary of Terra Firma) and a partner in computer consultants Capgemini.

The jobs were approved providing he agreed not to lobby government ministers on behalf of his employers for 12 months from his date of departure.

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