Rat poison, Jaffa Cakes and a banana are among some of the items claimed on expenses by Gloucestershire MPs.

The latest allowances, published yesterday, showed the county's MPs claimed more than £120,000 last year to cover the cost of staying away from their 'main' home – with two hitting the £24,006 limit.

One of those was Laurence Robertson, Tory MP for Tewkesbury, who made regular claims for food of £399 – just short of the £400 monthly maximum.

Last year, he charged to the taxpayer more than £1,700 to carry out work at his property including repairs to windows, new locks, and drain clearing.

In February this year, he submitted a claim for £135 to bait rats. He was informed by the Commons authorities at the end of the financial year that he had insufficient funds left from his second allowance to meet his final claim for more than £2,200. He received £352.39.

Labour MP for Stroud David Drew had the lowest claim of all the county MPs for the year, coming in at £13,059, which was to cover hotel and food expenses when in London.

Fellow Labour MP for Gloucester Parmjit Dhanda had the next lowest second home claim for the year of £17,652.69. This included claiming £189 for a Dyson vacuum cleaner and a phone priced at £24.45 from the Gloucester branch of Currys. He had a claim for a mobile phone bill rejected as it should be dealt with under office expenses.

Mr Dhanda said: "All of my expenses for 08-09 have been on my website and trawled over for six months.

"Mine is one of the lowest claims in the county consistently and I have never flipped homes, avoided taxes or employed a spouse."

Mark Harper, Conservative MP for the Forest of Dean, submitted claims totalling £23,480.51. This included a 'Firmrest' bed mattress costing £475 and a round laundry bin from Next priced at £60. He regularly submitted receipts for cleaning and ironing. Mr Harper had a claim for a £340 air conditioning unit reduced by £40 as it went over the £299 limit set by the now infamous John Lewis list.

Mr Harper said: "The tests I have always applied to anything I claim for are first, is it within the rules? Second, and probably more important, is it reasonable? I hope that..., when they look at the details of my expenses and allowances, my constituents will consider that I have indeed been reasonable in all that I have claimed."

Tory MP for the Cotswolds Geoffrey Clifton-Brown also claimed the maximum amount last year for running his second home.

This was entirely made up of claims for £2,059 in most months on mortgage interest payments/rent.

Mr Clinton-Brown justified his mortgage interest claims by saying he does not claim for anything else.

"If you put these figures into context, I must be placed in the bottom half of MPs for claims.

"And if you consider the size of my constituency and the amount of travel, my expenses are fair and just."

It was announced in May that mortgage interest and rent claims would be capped at £1,250 a month during 2009/10.

Mr Clifton-Brown added: "Constituents can't have it both ways. They can't expect me to fund everything out of my own pocket.

"I have a job to represent the members of this constituency and that requires me to have two homes. There's an awful lot of items I feel I should claim but don't."

Lib Dem MP for Cheltenham Martin Horwood claimed a total of £19,724.85 in 2008/09 on the second home allowance.

His receipts included 50p for a banana, and a packet of Jaffa Cakes priced at £1.85 from on board a First Great Western Train.

In a bid to avoid flak, Mr Horwood decided to stop using a London flat in August, which was costing £1,573 a month in rent, and £185 per month in council tax. Instead he now spends about £100-200 per night on hotels – but added that he only stays in the capital about two nights a week on average.

He said: "I gave up the flat when I looked at other peoples' claims.

"I now stay in a hotel, which is considerably cheaper. I didn't realise that my rent claim was quite high compared to others."

When asked if claiming 50p for a banana was stingy, he added: "Would people rather I claimed for more? I could have gone for three-course meals, but I didn't."

Tewkesbury MP Laurence Robertson said: "I haven't seen the report yet.

"But I can say I've had a letter from Thomas Legg this week saying I have no issues to answer.

"So my expenses have been approved by both the fees office and the auditor.

"The last time there were a lot of things I didn't claim for, but could have. I know some MPs claim £50 under the maximum amount just so their name isn't at the top.

"But I don't play games like that. Living in Gloucestershire and London is expensive. If there's an allowance there for running a home, then why can't it be claimed – whether for cleaning drains or poisoning rats?

"Having said that, I agree that the system does need to be changed. It does look a bit strange when household costs are broken down like that."

A full list of totals for all allowances is expected early next year.