Four charged over expenses

The expenses scandal broke with details of claims for items ranging from toilet paper to moat cleaning and a duck house dominating the newspapers' front pages for weeks. Public outrage was vocal and widespread, ending several political careers.

With MPs from all camps tainted, no party has been able to score political points. Many MPs whose reputations were damaged will not run again for fear of being punished by voters.

The fallout from the row may help a new generation of MPs emerge from the looming election.

An official report released on Thursday found 390 MPs had filed excessive expense claims between 2004 and 2009 and should pay back a total of more than one million pounds.

Many of the claims were for household items deemed trivial by auditors, but some MPs stand accused of more serious abuses such as "flipping," or changing which house they declared as their main home in order to maximise second home allowances. In some cases MPs avoided capital gains tax when selling one of their properties by "flipping" its designation.

(Editing by Keith Weir and Matthew Jones)