Wiggin answers public criticism

Bill Wiggin said the expenses system should have picked up his error

Tory MP Bill Wiggin has faced criticism from his constituents at a public meeting following newspaper revelations over his expenses.

More than 150 people attended the meeting with up to 30 people angry at being locked out due to overcrowding.

The MP for Leominster, Herefordshire, wrongly claimed for a mortgage on his constituency home, not his London home.

Outside the meeting constituents said Mr Wiggin had "blotted his copy book" and did not know if he would recover.

Mr Wiggin blamed the expenses system for not picking his mistake up earlier.

He said: "I did make a mistake on the form and that mistake was repeated.

"I think there is something wrong with the system when I can make a mistake and for 23 months it is not picked up."

He said he had not made any profit out of the mistake and that he corrected it as soon as he was made aware of it.

He added he would not be standing down over the matter which was highlighted in the Daily Telegraph.