PM attacked over refit of No.11 home

David Cameron has spent the entire £30,000 budget available to him annually for upkeep and improvements to his Downing Street flat, it has been revealed.

Officials stressed that the costs charged to the taxpayer did not cover furniture, fixtures and fittings, but things like electrics, plumbing, structural alterations and decorating.

Additional costs in the refit of the flat at Number 11 - where the Camerons live with their three children - beyond the 30,000 publicly funded allowance were met by the family.

But the Prime Minister was accused by Labour backbencher Tom Watson of failing to lead by example as the public sector faces huge cuts. The first pictures of a new kitchen emerged this week when the PM's wife Samantha showed First Lady Michelle Obama her home.

Number 10 said that the programme of work had been set in train by the previous Labour government.