Blair's bathroom gift to Bush revealed

Mr Blair's present may have been meant to amuse the president

The Saudis gave George W Bush a million-dollar oil painting, the Italians a £20,000 sculpture - but all he got from Tony Blair was a £216 sponge bag.

The prime minister's present features on a list of gifts given to the US president since he took office in January 2001.

The toilet bag is believed to have been a light-hearted reference to the president's comment on first meeting Mr Blair that they had at least one thing in common - the same toothpaste.

It has "GWB" embossed in gold on the top.

The list, released by US officials, reveals Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Mr Bush an elaborately detailed silver coffee urn with six matching cups and a platter.

The United Arab Emirates presented him with a £12,000 pen studded with rubies and diamonds in an American flag pattern.

And Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave him a £3,000 wool and silk rug.

The ironic twist is that all this money gets spent on things no one ever gets to enjoy Archivist Jenny Sternaman

But Mr Blair's gift was not the cheapest - Morocco gave Mr Bush a £2 jar of fish bait.

Sadly, the president is unlikely to get much use out of either.

They and the thousands of other gifts he has received are collecting dust at the National Archives department.

Jenny Sternaman, archivist at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, said: "The ironic twist is that all this money gets spent on things no one ever gets to enjoy."