Witney MP David Cameron has some of the most straighforward expenses claims of any member of the Shadow Cabinet, it emerged today.

For most of the past five years, the Conservative Party leader has claimed only for mortgage interest and utility bills on his Oxfordshire constituency cottage.

According to the Daily Telegraph investigation, his Parliamentary expense records are only 20 pages long, compared with claims of more than 90 pages for some of his colleagues.

Mr Cameron claimed a total of £141,820 on his second home allowance over five years.

The only exception to the mortgage interest and utility bills on the constituency home was a £680 bill for repairs to the property, which included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing a conservatory roof.

Mr Cameron told The Daily Telegraph: “We have to acknowledge just how bad the situation is and just how angry the public are.

“We have to start by saying that the system we had and used was wrong and we are sorry for that.”

The latest revelations from the newspaper indicated that senior Tories had engaged in the tactic of "flipping" property designations to claim more allowances.

Mr Cameron said it was going to be "another bad day for Parliament and frankly another bad day for the the Conservative Party”.

He added: “We are sorry that this happened and it needs to change.”

A new independent audit unit — costing £600,000 a year to run — will take over scrutiny of MPs' expenses claims, the Commons authorities said.

The ruling Commons Commission is also due to discuss whether it can rush through the publication of more than a million edited claims receipts.