An MP who claimed thousands of pounds for her bathrooms said she wished she had never bought its luxury fittings.

Celia Barlow is the latest MP to be caught up in the expenses row after it was revealed that she used taxpayers’ cash to pay for extensive renovations at her home in Tongdean Road, Hove.

Two fitted bathrooms, a “high lustre silver shower screen” and a whirlpool bath, a new porch door and removal costs were all listed in the Hove MP’s expenses list, worth more than £28,000.

Yesterday she told The Argus that the work was claimed as part of her parliamentary duties for a “basic standard of living” but said she regretted buying a high-end shower screen and offered to apologise to any upset constituents.

Ms Barlow has previously been outspoken about not claiming a second home allowance for the past two years and commuting to Westminster.

The figures, made public yesterday, show that in 2005 and 2006 the MP claimed for her constituency house and a flat she lived in prior to buying the £555,000 house.

Ms Barlow refused to allow The Argus into the house her constituents paid to renovate yesterday on “security and privacy” grounds.

Speaking in her Hove office yesterday, the Labour MP explained that she made the claims under the Additional Costs Allowances scheme after being made an MP, and moving from Chichester to Hove.

She said: “I thought I was possibly making it a home for my family, but at the same time I had a family home in Chichester and I kept that because my son went to school there and my mother lives round the corner.

“It was a second home allowance and it was my second home. I claimed that as part of my parliamentary duties for a basic standard of living, having been fortunate enough to have been elected as MP for Hove.

“I wish I hadn’t bought the silver lustre shower screen.

“I seriously wish I hadn’t bought that. But it isn’t a moat.

“It’s a shower screen I wish I hadn’t bought but I did need something to stop the water coming out.”

She added: “People are welcome to come and look at my expenses and if they are unhappy with what I have done then they should tell me.

“But people should bear in mind I have decided not to claim anything at all for two years.

“I expect some people will be unhappy, and then I am very sorry about what has happened.

“My constituents will have to tell me what they think. If they consider I should have bought a shower curtain instead, then I think that’s acceptable.

“But at the same time they have to think about the fact that I didn’t want to claim anything any more very early on.”

In January 2006, she claimed £29,399 for stamp duty and mortgage broker and legal fees and removal costs, and was paid £13,881.

In July 2006 she claimed £1,060 for gardening, to install a porch door and to remove a shed but £520 of the claim was rejected.

In August 2006, she claimed £5,183 on second home allowance for bathroom goods from Bathstore, including the “high lustre silver” bath screen, a lavatory, basin and shower valve. She as paid £4,935.

In October 2006, she was paid another £3,570 for more bathroom goods and electrical services including a £458 whirlpool bath.

Ms Barlow, who has in the past voted in favour of all MPs’ expenses being made public, said she thinks the fees need reform. She said she stopped claiming once her Hove house became her permanent home in early 2007 and stressed that she had never “flipped” homes.

She said: “The fees office said I could claim it for a London property or Chichester, but I didn’t because I didn’t think it was appropriate. It is very hard to say you want full disclosure and transparency, then get upset when people want to look at yours. This makes people distrust politicians an awful lot.

“That’s why the system should have been reformed 20 years ago.”