The chartered surveyors who sold Chancellor Gordon Brown his Westminster flat in 1992 have said there was no impropriety over the sale.

Tuckerman Chartered Surveyors said the property in Great Smith Street, minutes away from Parliament, had been sold for £130,000 to the chancellor in October 1992, after being originally put up for sale for £163,000.

The one-bedroom flat had previously been owned by one of the failed companies owned by Robert Maxwell.

Mr Brown has denied any impropriety over the purchase but the Tories have called for a full inquiry into the deal.

'Independent inquiry'

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Heathcoat-Amory said : "The price is of secondary consideration.

"The main point is that Gordon Brown lives in a flat bought from the receivers of a failed Maxwell company at the same time that the Maxwell affair is under investigation by the Department of Trade and Industry and he has not declared the fact.

"Remarks by estate agents and receivers are no substitute for an independent inquiry."

The managing director of Tuckerman, Terence Osborne, said the company was instructed to sell the property by Arthur Andersen on 1 May 1992.

Arthur Andersen were acting as administrators for the failed companies after Mr Maxwell's death in December 1991 and selling assets to try to recover money for creditors of the firms involved.

In a statement, Mr Osborne said: "The property was originally marketed at an asking figure of £163,000 to include carpets and curtains.

"The asking price was reduced to £155,000 at the beginning of July and reduced again on 25 August 1992 to £145,000 to reflect the poor state of the market at that time.

'Reduced price'

"The flat was advertised in The Sunday Times at the original figure and was subsequently re-advertised at the reduced prices and generally circulated, resulting in various inspections taking place."

The statement continued: "Terms were finally agreed with Gordon Brown MP at £130,000 in September, with exchange and completion taking place in October.

"There was no question of impropriety at any time. The terms agreed reflected the condition of the flat and the state of the market.