MPs' expenses list reveals David Cameron 'used the system' to claim £21,000 in a year to pay his mortgage

The first published breakdown of MPs' expenses also showed that Gordon Brown charged £15,000 to fit out his London flat for his family.

The Prime Minister claimed £2,300 for food and £4,980 for cleaning.

He and Tony Blair claimed for their television licences, Sir Menzies Campbell put in for laundry costs and John Prescott charged for £4,000 worth of food in one year - £80 a week.

The average household spends £2,444 a year.

Details of how senior MPs fund their living costs were disclosed by Commons Speaker Michael Martin under pressure from campaigners.

The figures raise awkward questions for the party leaders and will intensify pressure for sweeping reform of the way MPs pay themselves.

The House of Commons released a partial breakdown of how a group of MPs claim the Additional Costs Allowance, which gives them up to £22,000 a year to help with the cost of running two homes.

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Mr Martin threw in the towel after the Information Commissioner ruled that he was wrong to withhold information about the detail of how the allowance is claimed.

Information on 12 MPs, including Mr Brown, Mr Cameron, Mr Blair and Mr Prescott was released showing how they allocated the total they claimed between a number of categories including mortgage, telephone, cleaning, food and maintenance.

Similar information on all 646 MPs will be released in the autumn, under a plan announced by the Commons Commission which is chaired by the Speaker.

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The outcome of a High Court appeal could force the Commons to publish an even more detailed breakdown of every claim.

The numbers were released last night to the Freedom of Information campaigner Heather Brooke and the BBC after a day of delays.

George Osborne, the Tory Shadow Chancellor and heir to the Osborne and Little wallpaper empire, claimed £18,000 for his mortgage.

His expenses and those of Mr Cameron stood out because they claim close to the maximum allowed and devote it almost entirely to the cost of servicing the loans to buy their constituency homes.

Mr Cameron, who has led calls for sweeping changes to MPs'expenses, has made no secret of the fact that he uses the housing allowance to pay the mortgage on his £750,000 house in his Oxfordshire constituency.

The Tory leader has no mortgage on his house in London, which is said to be worth £2million.

He comes from a well-off family and his wife Samantha is the daughter of a land-owning baronet.

A Tory spokesman said: "We support the publication of these details. David Cameron, George Osborne and William Hague have complied fully with the rules."

Commons authorities have spent thousands of pounds to keep the figures secret and are ready to spend an estimated £100,000 in a High Court battle to stop further details from being released.

Labour sources said the changes in Mr Brown's claims reflect the transition from bachelor to married man with a small family.

They say he had to spend considerable sums to make his Westminster flat habitable for his wife Sarah and son John in 2005/6.

Eyebrows may be raised by his claim for the cost of satellite TV subscriptions but as with Mr Cameron's mortgage costs all the claims released yesterday are within existing rules.

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Mrs Brooke said taxpayers deserved to know more.

"The way it's been handled has been a complete farce and a waste of taxpayers' money," she said.

"The fact that they are still fighting through the High Court to keep secret the detailed claims and receipts shows how much importance they place in that."

Mr Blair claimed £3,950 toward his mortgage on his constituency home, £1,600 for cleaning and £640 for a dishwasher.