Despite protestations from many of them that we should all be driving less, some MPs have claimed more than the price of an average car in just one year’s mileage expenses.

Topping the chart was Labour MP Janet Anderson, who claimed a massive £13,851 – more than the cost of a new MINI Cooper – in mileage expenses alone.

This means Ms Anderson must have driven some 49,000 miles on parliamentary business over the past 12 months.

However, her claim also includes parking costs, which may have been at her local railway station, as she also claimed £1,770 in rail expenses.

Many MPs opted not to use their own cars and travelled some considerable distance in taxis, hire cars and other people’s vehicles, for which they also claimed expenses.

The most avid fan of jumping into someone else’s car is Conservative MP Oliver Letwin, chairman of the Policy Review and of the Conservative Research Department, who claimed just shy of £5,000 for such travel pleasures.

Many MPs, however, did make use of public transport, and also travelled some distance by bicycle, for which they claimed back 20p per mile.

Either the fittest MP in the House or greatest fan of the bus is Robert Wilson MP, who claimed a whopping £6,000 for bus and/or bicycle expenses.