Harrow’s MPs spent almost £350,000 between them on expenses and office costs last year.

Figures released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority show that during the 2013/14 year, Conservative MP Bob Blackman and Labour's Gareth Thomas spent £349,192.66 on expenses and office costs, with the majority spent on staffing.

Both MPs stayed largely within the authority's spending limits, although Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, exceeded his budget in one of the categories.

The Tory MP spent £149,054.13 on staffing costs, £5,054.13 more than the set maximum for the year.

He has agreed to balance this by reducing spending in his 2014-2015 budget.

Mr Blackman also spent £25,340.39 on office costs, and £4,376.62 on travel around the constituency, as well as to and from Parliament.

His overall total came to £178,771.14. The figures also showed that Mr Blackman’s wife, Nicola Blackman, works as his office manager on a salary of between £30,000 to 34,999.99.

Mr Blackman said: “I believe in fair pay for fair work. My interns are always paid wages as it is the right thing to do. However, in line with the public sector pay freeze, none of my staff have received more than a one per cent pay rise in their rate of pay since joining my office.

“I have six members of staff, three of whom are part time, and all of whom often do work outside of their standard timings to provide the best possible service to my constituents. I value the work they do tremendously.

“Harrow East is an extremely high volume casework constituency compared to many, and a large proportion of the cases we assist with, such as those relating to the Border Agency or the Home Office, are very complex.”

Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow West, spent £143,572.94 on staffing costs, and £25,143.19 on office costs.

He also spent £1,705.39 on travel. His total spending came to £170,421.52.

Mr Thomas said: “The vast majority of my expenses are for the salaries of my staff and an office in Harrow. I continue to run a weekly advice surgery, and have seen a marked increase in the number of people struggling with a range of issues such as housing and debt problems over the last few years.”

Both MPs earn a basic salary of £66,396.