Blair and Brown had new kitchens on the taxpayer, 'John Lewis list' reveals

Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, caved in after a three-year legal battle and published a receipt-by-receipt breakdown of the £12million-a-year perk.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, exposed the frivolous way politicians have used public money.

Gordon Brown and Tony Blair both claimed back the cost of new kitchens they installed in their second homes as part of their 'John Lewis' allowance

They have spent it on everything from window cleaning to rockeries to sprucing up mock Tudor gables.

Mr Martin sparked outrage after wasting more than £200,000 of taxpayers' cash in a bid to keep a detailed breakdown of the additional costs allowances under wraps.

He faced calls to quit last week after High Court judges ruled full public disclosure was in the public interest and did not jeopardise MPs' security.

Labour MP Barbara Follett claimed back the cost of having window cleaners 18 times in one year while John Prescott had mock Tudor boards fitted

The receipts showed Gordon Brown claimed £4,471 to smarten up his kitchen in 2005 and spent £1,403 on cleaning, £650 on food and £1,396 on painting and decorating in 2005 and 2006.

The Prime Minister also claimed back £372 for a subscription to Sky television for a year  -  the £36 a month charge which included both Sky Movies and Sky Sports. He even submitted a £47 bill for lightbulbs.

Tony Blair claimed more than £10,600 for a new kitchen for his home in his one-time Sedgefield constituency. It emerged that the former Premier was warned that he and his wife Cherie could face the bailiffs over an unpaid water bill. Northumbrian Water informed them that they had fallen £147.11 into arrears.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's former constituency home in Trimdon where he had a new kitchen worth £10,600 fitted

A letter from the company to Mrs Blair said: 'We appreciate that you may be experiencing some financial difficulties.'

Former Labour minister Peter Mandelson spent £3,000 of taxpayers' money on a new shower as well as repairing, replastering and redecorating his bathroom.

Receipts show he spent £100 a month on newspapers and £75 a month on gardening.

Between 2001 and 2003, Margaret Beckett spent £12,170.67 on repairs, including dealing with a stinking manhole.

The former Foreign Secretary also claimed £190 to rebuild a rockery in the garden of her constituency home in Derby.

But in February 2006, she had her claim for gardening expenses partially-rejected  -  with £600 for plants and a pergola written off.

John Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, claimed £312 to replace mock-Tudor boards at his home in Hull. They were part of repairs costing £6,707.

Labour MP Barbara Follett, the wife of millionaire novelist Ken Follett, claimed more than £1,600 for window cleaning at her London home at £94 a time.

But, barring one small claim for a phone bill, Tory leader David Cameron's expenses consisted only of claims for mortgage interest on his Oxfordshsire constituency home.

Details of the expenses claimed by 14 current and former MPs, running to more than 400 pages of invoices and receipts, were handed out yesterday by Commons authorities.

Heather Brooke, the right-to-know campaigner who initially requested the details, said: 'All public figures should learn from this case and realise that proactively publishing this information is the way forward and that by dragging their heels, MPs have only lowered themselves in the eyes of their constituents.

'What is utterly unacceptable is the secrecy of the system and it indicates that MPs did not feel able to justify these expenses to their constituents.

'These revelations give the lie to MPs' arguments that these receipts would damage their security or privacy.

'The only reason they were held back was to avoid embarrassment.'

Allowances of up to £23,000 a year allows MPs to run a home near Parliament and one in their constituency.

They can claim for mortgage interest, rent and household bills.